Cordelia Vixen and the Sorcerer's Stone
by slytherintriumvirate
Summary: Cordelia, the adopted daughter of a loving family, finds out she's a witch! Hagrid pulls her away from the muggle world and into the magical one, knowing that she will help change the course of fate. Who is she really? RW,HG,and slight Dumbles bashing
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! This is a re-make of my old story, so if you want to read ahead, go to my profile and you can read it from there!

For those who are new readers, this story is mainly about a girl who is going to Hogwarts the same time as Harry and co. It will follow the books closely until the 5th year, and from there it will branch out into two different stories. She will be important to the outcome of the books.

Prologue

_January, 1981_

"M… My Lord…"

"What is it, Avery?" Lord Voldemort hissed, idly twirling his wand. He had no time for sniveling idiots who couldn't even report. Sometimes he wondered why he bothered with such imcompetent followers.

"Th…they're dead…all dead…" Avery stuttered, groveling on the floor.

"Who's dead?" he snapped impatiently, although he had a sinking feeling he would not like the answer. "_Crucio,_" Voldemort hissed, "Perhaps your tongue is a little looser now?" He asked snidely. This dark lord buisness was rather taxing when only stuttering fools were brave enough to follow you. The rest of the world were just ingorant people who needed to be convinced otherwise.

"Forgive me, forgive me, great master! I…I.. The raid! It-it was a failure!" stuttered Avery, knowing he was going to receive another Cruciatus Cruse for being the bearer of bad news.

"_Crucio_" Voldemort yelled furiously, "would you care to explain to me how my best regimen fell to the Order of the Chicken? And just a simple assasination no less!"

"W-well, we were outnumbered five to one...the male Vixen was facing Dumbledore, Moody, Shaklebolt, McGonagall, and Fletcher all at once, while Vixen fought valliantly against Flitwick, Tonks, Potter, the traitorous Black and Lupin. It seemed the Order and the Aurors had joined forces against us, because I've never seen so many in one battle," Avery flinched.

"Any Survivors? Bring them here!"

"M-my l-l-lord I am the only one… Dumbledore spared me so I could bring you the news. And it's true. They're all dead." Avery babbled, he was definitely feeling the aftereffects of the Cuciatus Curse, and if it weren't so painful, he would be enthralled with the amount of power his lord used.

Leave now, then. Do not come back until tomorrow, and inform the other Death Eaters that all meetings are cancelled. IS that clear?" hissed Voldemort, already feeling a migraine coming up.

Avery scurried out of the room, fearing his master's wrath and his own life.

Lord Voldemort had never felt so many emotions crashing down on him. There was the usual hatred and anger, but there were also forgien emotions: sorrow, grief, and remorse. His best lieutenants were dead, and they were the only ones who he had chosen to acknowlege as his equals. It seemed as if the Dark Triumvirate had been destroyed before it had officially started. He felt Slytherin's marks already shrinking and recceding, showing that his power would soon run out. _I don't need Slytherin's blessing to rule the Wizarding World! _he thought bitterly, _there is no one else who would take it from me. And now there is more power for me! _He paused a little, _although it won't hurt to raise the Vixen children as suitable heirs. Then when they grow up, I will harness their powers and create a slightly less equal Triumvirate! _

With that, Voldemort apparated straight to the Vixen Manor. One of the house elves directed him to the nursery, where little Cordelia Vixen was sleeping peacefully.

"What of the boy?" Voldemort asked the house elf, careful to stay polite.

Ruby the houself knew that the Vixens trusted this man, but she did not. She already had an inkling of how powerful the twins would be, and how many people would try to manipulate their power. "Ruby does not know, sir. Mistress took him to a healing place because young Master was very ill." It was the truth, but Ruby knew exactly which hospital her Misstress took the young Master.

Voldemort looked suspicious of this, but he did not press on, knowing he was lucky to be trusted with one of the Vixen twins. He would find the other later, as he was somewhat a legal guardian of the two. Little did he know, Marius Vixen was already in Norway, entrusted with an old wizarding family, who promised to raise him as a son, with the help of many concealment charms, of course.

_October 31st 1981_

Voldemort barely blinked as his own jet of green light bounced off Potter boy and smacked him in the chest. He cursed himself over and over again for bringing Cordelia with him, as he thought this would be an easy mission. Now, it was almost certain that Dumbledore would be in charge of her_. _Suprisingly, he actually had grown fond of the little Vixen girl, possibly because she reminded him of himself when he was little.

The baby girl in his arms dropped and cried painfully on the floor. She wasn't used to being on the dirty floor, because she was treated like a princess everywhere she went. The little boy clutched his forehead and cried also. She stared at the boy who was causing such a ruckus and gave him the dirtiest look she could muster, being a one year old baby.

Emerald green eyes and sapphire blue eyes locked. The little girl stuck out her tongue, and the boy clapped his hands, gurgling. They continued to stare at each other, drawing comfort in the fact that they were not alone, although Cordelia would much rather perfer someone else's company.

Suddenly the boy found himself being lifted by a large figure they hadn't noticed come into the room. As the man was going to leave, the boy pointed to the floor and blew raspberry, catching the attention of the big man.

_Later_

"Oh, Albus, what are we going to do? Lily and James dead, Harry an orphan, and…" a wrinkled old woman asked an even older old man, but they were cut off with the sound of a roaring motorcycle that just landed.

"Hagrid," the old man greeted the big man, "Have you brought the child?"

"Yeh, professor…but I found another one in tha' house too," Hagrid said, trying to wipe a stray tear, but not succeeding because his hands were full with two sleeping babies.

"Albus? Is that girl…?" Minevra McGonagall asked, shocked.

"Yes, I'm afraid she is. Unfortunately, she is not dead as we believed she would be," Dumbledore replied frowning deeply, "Hagrid, you said she was found in the Dark lord's robes?"

"Yeah, it was kind of weird. Didn't know ol' You-Know-Who could be the father type." Hagrid replied, shivering at the thought.

"What does this mean?" McGonagall asked quietly, now looking the baby in fear. When she realized how silly she looked, she promptly stopped.

Dumbledore sighed. Knowing who she was, this child would be immensely powerful when she grew up. She could be another Tom Riddle, or she could be an Albus Dumbledore. If he left the child at an orphanage, no doubt one of the Dark's supporters would find her, but there was a chance a Light supporter could also. The Dark supporter would probably tell her about her true heritage and spoil her to death, but the Light supporter might torture her and drive her into the darkness, vowing revenge. What he wanted was a little, dispensible pawn that destroyed HIS enemies. Hmmm. Maybe if she viewed Dumbledore as her savior and Voldemort as her enemy, had friends of the Light, and was NOT sorted in Slytherin. That might just work...

"Give me the child," Dumbledore said, a plan already formed in his mind, "I will be incharge of her." With a swish of his wand, the adorable child turned into a regular looking one that looked nothing special. He dove into her mind and used the strongest blocks on her magic that he knew. Dumbledore smirked. There was not going to be a Dark Lady, there was going to be a new Light Champion, though.

Author's Note: Well, I hoped you liked chapter one! Reviews are encouraged!


	2. A Day in the Life

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter... at all. The end.

Author's Note: Not my favorite chapter, but it gives insight about how our main character's life was (compare it to the other main character's lives?). If you've read "Georgina Vixen and the Sorcerer's Stone," you'll realize that this version is very different. I realized that the other version was kind of confusing.

Chapter One: A Day in the Life

"Wake up!" murmured a low, female voice, shaking a sleeping body who was clutching her pillow.

The girl in the bed groaned loudly. She was interrupted from a rather spectacular dream of a flying green light, a crash and explosion, and meeting a boy with bright emerald eyes and an oddly shaped scar on his forehead. Using a tremendous amount of willpower, she rolled off her bed with a thud and groggily stood up. The woman who woke her up laughed. Her little Cordelia was always up for theatrics, even for the simplest tasks.

"You know it's your turn to make breakfast, honey. Christy won't be happy if you made it late, since she's been making it dillegently for the last week," the woman chastized, chuckling amusedly. Adopting Cordelia was one of the best decisions her and her husband had made. As she was unable to bear more children after Christy, her and Mike didn't want their only child to get lonely. They visited the orphanage down the street and were greeted by a rather grumpy six-year-old whom they immediately fell in love with.

Cordelia began her morning routine: get dressed in her clothes, brush her teeth, and try to annoy her sister before she got kicked out of her sister's room. As she brushed her teeth, her mind began to wander. Who were her parents? The girl knew she was adopted, because she had lived in the orphanage until she was six. She loved her parents, she really did, but sometimes she wondered whether there were her birthparents, waiting for her to find them. She sighed, looking in the mirror. Her looks were nothing to be proud of, but still her pride remained intact. She had dark brown medium length hair, and poop colored eyes. She was of meduim stature, and to her and everyone else, she looked perfectly _normal_. Unfortunately, she didn't act half as normal. Over the years, she had perfected the art of sarcasm and learned long words other eleven-year-olds would probably never know until they were adults. Therefore, she had quite a large ego and gave anyone who tried to annoy her a piece of her mind. Walking sullenly down the stairs because she was forced to make breakfast, she nodded in acknowledgement to her father, mother, and sister.

"What took you so long? Catching up on your _beauty sleep_?" Christy whinned, "I'm _huuuuuuungry_!" Immediately, Cordelia went to work. In less than twenty minutes, she was done, even though there was only buttered and jellied toast on the table. Her parents didn't trust the kids with making anything else. _It kind of defeats the purpose of making breakfast, _Cordelia thought, _when all you have to do is toast bread and butter and jelly it._

Silently the family began to eat the breakfast when the silence was shattered when little Christy something to say.

"I want a new dress. My old one is getting too small. I'm a growing girl! I grew...five inches from yesterday!" the eight-year-old babbled excitedly. The rest of the family chuckled.

"If that's what Princess Christy wants," her father said, smiling, "'Lia, do you think you can take Christy to the mall today? I have a teacher's meeting today, so I can't take the day off and your mother has work."

"Okay!" Christy chirped smiling happily at her sister, who returned with a smiling wink.

"Oh, you're right dear! I better get going. Bye darlings, and be safe!" called her mother, scurrying to the door and running out.

Wordlessly, Christina motioned for her sister to follow her up into her room. Her sister followed, eager to see what her sister had to share.

"Chrissy, guess what? I had a dream about the green light again!" Cordelia squealed childishly to her best friend and sister.

"Really? That's cool. I wish I had dreams like that! I just forget all of them," pouted Christy, "when are we going to the mall, 'Lia?"

"After I'm done with my homework," replied Cordelia, "which will be around ten. Why don't you go read a book until then? We _do _want you to be the prettiest, smartest girl in the fourth grade, don't we?"

Christy nodded excitedly and ran off to find her favorite book. These were times that Cordelia envied her sister greatly. Christy was easily the most beautiful person in the family, inheriting the best features from both parents. Both of her parents had light hair, so sometimes Cordelia felt like the odd child out, especially during family portriats. Her foster family was much too nice to mention anything, but she could sometimes feel that they wished she looked more like them.

After she was done with her homework, Cordelia called Christy, and they set off with their bikes to ride the few miles to the mall.

When they arrived, Cordelia saw many couples at the food court, and she wished she could be one of them. No one willingly interacted with her, because of her slightly stuckup attitude, and since there were many other, much prettier girls to hang out with. When she loooked to the right, at her sister's bright face, she immediately forgot about the couples and led her sister to Limited Too, her favorite clothing store.

An hour later with a new dress, the two sisters were happily munching on ice cream cones, as they reminiced old times.

Suddenly, out of no where Christy said, "I'll miss you a lot when you go to middle school 'Lia. You won't be able to pick me up anymore!"

Cordelia felt a warm, fluttering feeling in my chest. Sometimes the biggest pride-givers in the world were the things people said to you. "Don't worry, Christy, I'll still be able to pick you up afterschool! You just have to wait awhile, but other than that, you'll be fine," Cordelia said warmly, squeezing her sister's hand, as they walked hand in hand with their bikes back home.

Little did the two sisters know, there would be a huge change in their lives coming up very quickly.

Please review! It's what keeps this story moving! By the way, I'll be taking a trip for the next few days, so updates will most likely be slow! Sorry! But I'm trying to get another chapter up so I can post it on Sunday or something. But review! It might make me more tempted to update sooner, if you know what I mean!


	3. Going Away

Author's Note: I'm trying to make my chapters a little longer, because I noticed that they were relatively short. For the last chapter, I was going to put in a school scene, but I realized it was summer so, obviously, there is no school. Once again, I do not own Harry Potter at all.

Chapter Two: Not the Same Old, Same Old

"WAKE UP!" yelled Christy from downstairs. Cordelia groaned. This was probably one of those days in which Christy was feeling incredibly lazy and probably would watch TV all day. Her clock told her she slept in, and her mom had left for work, leaving her dad to make breakfast and watch over Christy.

Cordelia did her morning routine and didn't particularly find anything different, other than an odd feeling in her blood that made her feel slightly exhilarated. She shrugged it off, thinking it was because of the bright sun that peeked through her windows. Walking downstairs, she helped herself to the eggs and pancakes on the table, suddenly realizing that she would have an extra day of breakfast duty for sleeping in. Sometimes life wasn't fair.

Her father took in Cordelia's slightly dreamy expression with confusion. Maybe she'd been reading too many fantasy books before she went to sleep and 'Lia was still in her dreamland. "'Lia? Wake up! What's with you today? Have you been reading before bed again? Or did you sneak an icecream sandwich yesterday or something?"

Cordelia shrugged. It's not like she knew anyways, but if she didn't say anything, they would think she pulled some prank or something. "It's a nice day today, that's all."

Her father nodded, "Well, since it's so nice you and Christy can tend the garden after you eat, it's looking a little dry."

He usually tended the garden, but there wasn't much to work on today, so he decided the girls would enjoy the day outside. He hoped they wouldn't destroy any of the plants though.

Seeing Cordelias excitement at the task he added, "But you still have your regular chores to do, you know that right?" She nodded. She would usually do them anyways, as she didn't like her room messy, nor did she like piles of laundry on her bed.

"Well, I'll be taking a little trip to the post. My new bike parts should be coming in today. I should be back by twelve at the latest. No causing trouble now," Michael waved, heading out the door, leaving the two girls in each other's presence.

"Let's do the garden, 'Lia! Can we sprinkle confetti to make it look nice?" Christy asked before running upstairs to get her paper bag of confetti. Cordelia had the urge to roll her eyes. Why did her dad have to trust her enough to leave her with the garden and Christy?

Cordelia cleaned up breakfast as usual, but she couldn't help but feel incredibly lucky that she could finally go outside. Maybe a nice tan would make her feel better. Heading to the garden, she noticed how nice and quaint it looked. It was hard to convince Christy that confetti would not help the plants, and it was even harder to convince her that rainbow sprinkles would help even less. By the time they were finished with the garden, bothe girls were eager to go inside for a drink of cool, refreshing water.

At about one o'clock, Christy came wandering down the stairs, complaining she was hungry. Cordelia fixed up some lunch meat sandwiches for both of them, and they sat in a comfortable silence, Cordelia doing the Crossword puzzle, and Christy reading the comics page.

At twelve-thirty, their father came back fromhe post office and helped himself to some leftover sandwiches, congratualating them for such great work with the garden. Christy beamed unted his praise and Cordelia smiled gratefully. Upstairs, Cordelia wasn't feeling any better, in fact she was feeling much worse. Her body kept sending shivers up her spine, like it was trying to tell her brain something important. At four, they became so intense, she could hardly stop herself form giggling every two minutes, or screaming at the top of her lungs.

Then, with one huge impulse wave, she gasped loudly then everything just stopped. No more giggling, no more spasms, no more screaming. Nothing.

Knock knock.

Christina groaned. It was probably a neighbor trying to sell some unimportant product that they didn't need. She decided it wouldn't be worth it to pen the door, but since no one answered the door yet, she sighed and went downstairs, cursing at her incompetent family members that she loved very much.

Opening the doors, she screamed.

A giant man was standing in the doorway. He had a wild, shaggy beard that covered most of his face, but his eyes were like black glittering beetles. He was wearing a long trench coat that went up to his knees and she could swear something was _moving _in there.

Suddenly, a spasm in her stomach made her clutch her stomach in pain.

"'Lia? Are you all right?" yelled her father from the top of the stairs. His eyes widened when he spotted the giant. "W-what are you? Get out of my house!"

Cordelia stood frozen at the doorway, not believing what she saw.

"Jeesh, I'm talking on the phone here! Can you guys BE QUIET?" Christy yelled. She gasped as she saw the huge man blocking the doorway, murmuring a few words before hanging up the phone.

"What do you want?" asked her father asked fearfully, pushing the still shocked Cordelia behind him. She stumbled back, holding her sister tightly, who had rushed into her arms after hanging up the phone.

"I'm-eh lookin' for eh Cordelia Mason?" the giant said squinting at a letter in his hand. He had a rather strong English accent. "I'm Rubeus Hagrid, keeper of keys at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft an' Wizardry."

"Uhh, that would be me…" Cordelia said, bravely stepping forward, then stepping back because of the smell he omitted. "Wait, did you say _witchcraft and wizardry_? Are you some telemarketer?"

" Uh, maybe. But yer a witch. Have yeh ever done something odd when yeh got mad?" he asked, but it was obvious he had no idea what a telemarketer was. Cordelia thought, then shook her head no.

"Well, er, have yeh ev'a made something change abnormally?" Another negative headshake.

"Ev'a gotten out of danger oddly?" the answer was, once again, no. Her father and Christy looked mildly suspicious and they glanced at the clock. Her mother would be home any minute now.

Hagrid looked stumped. He got a piece of paper out that had neat squiggly words on them and began to read the letter.

_Hagrid,_

_Don't go with your normal routine when you pick up Cordelia. She has very strong bonds on her magic, which negates all accidental magic. Don't forget she will be staying with the Dursley's until the start of the school year, so she needs to get most of her posessions._

_Good luck,_

_Headmaster Dumbledore_

_Whoops,_ Hagid thought, _I guess I shoulda read the letter first._

"Okay enough chit-chat, leht's get outta here!" Hagrid roared excitedly.

"Wait, no way! MY daughter can't be a witch! That a bunch of bull! She's perfectly normal! I suggest you leave before I call the cops!" Her father said, determined, he did not seem offended at all, which was quite comforting. Christy tightened her hold on her sister.

"Er, well. It's in here genes?" Hagrid mumbled, not seeming quite sure himself.

"Will someone please explain to me why there is a giant man standing in my doorway?" a stern voice asked from behind Hagrid.

"Mom! There's a weird man here who says I'm a witch!" Cordelia exclaimed, realizing the absurdity of the situation.

"What? They don't exsist! Impossible!" her mother protested, "get out of my house!"

Hagrid stepped in at the moment, flourishing a large, pink umbrella to the family's confusion. With a flick, the wall turned bright blue, much to their suprise.

"It does exsist! So I would be able to do that too?" asked Cordelia excitedly. She was a real witch!

"So you're taking my daughter _where_? To learn how to brandish umbrellas and create havoc?" her mother snapped, "absolutely not!"

"Moooom!" protested Cordelia, "it's just going to a different school, that's all. I'll still be able to stay here right?"

"Er- actually, no. Yeh see, Hogwarts is a boarding school," Hagrid stammered, "sorry."

"My baby is not staying somewhere else!" exclaimed her father, "there is no way she is going to this school!"

"Yeah, can't I do a stay at home study or something? I don't wanna go to a boarding school!" Cordelia whinned.

"I'm still against the idea that she learns this magic at all! It's proposterous!" her mother said loudly.

"Sorry the end yer quarrelen' but we're in eh rush right now. Go get yer stuff Cornelia, yer staying somewhere else fer the summer." Hagrid said impatiently, flicking his umbrella at her. She immediately began walking up the stairs, much to her displeasure.

"_What_?" her mother screeched, "you can't just order my daughter to get her stuff and go! And you can't keep her from staying here over the summer! And put that umbrella away!"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Christy, "she's _my_ sister, and she can't be away from _me_!"

"Now, now. She'll be back next year, and yeh can send her letters. Now let's get goin'" Hagrid muttered, trying to drag Cordelia from her family, who was hugging her tightly and refusing to let her go.

"Absolutely NOT!" roared her father, "you can't expect us to just let you go off with our daughter, whether you're from that blasted school or not!"

Cordelia internally agreed. She wouldn't mind not being able to go to a close school, but she deparately wanted to spend the most time with her family, if she was forced to go to a boarding school. It wasn't fair!

"I'm sorry, I have teh do this, but it's teh only way..." with that, Hagrid brought down his pink umbrella again, and sent out three beams of light on her family, to Cordelia's horror, and they crumpled to the ground. She whirrled around and glared angrily at Hagrid.

"What'd you do to them? Bring them back!" she shouted angrily, stomping her foot, "I don't want to leave!"

He shrugged and said, "touch this," and held out a small piece of paper. When Cordelia touched it, there was a great flash of light, and she felt very different from before, like something that was missing had come back to her. She felt freer than before, but she felt there was something missing. However she still glared at Hagrid, who dragged her out of the house with her packed posessions while she was still dazed.

"Surrey, please," ordered Hagrid, to a waiting taxi, whose driver seemed like he was going to barf because of Hagrid's smell.

When they finally arrived in Surrey, it was starting to get dark, and she was still furious at Hagrid for forcefully dragging her from her family without a proper good bye. She was worried about how they would react when they found she was missing.

"Oh, yeh, yer real name is Cordelia Vixen, I fergot to mention that," Hagrid said, "we're off ta one more errand then we'll get yer school supplies."

She hoped this errand didn't include forcibly taking another child from their families, and gave an angry nod of acknowlegement.

Author's Note: See, I told you it would be longer! It was really hard to do Hagrid's accent though, so I didn't make him talk much. I bet you know what the "errand' is though, right? and REVIEW!

Sorry it took longer than expected. I couldn't get on the computer at all. The next chapter should be coming up tomorrow though!


	4. Meet Harry

**Author's Note: ****Hi everyone! I hoped you liked the last chapter. Sorry I couldn't update too much over the weekend, but hopefully I'll be able to write more this week. As usual, please review!**

Chapter 3: Boy-who-Lived-to-Sleep-on-the-Floor

"_Hagrid!_ What are we even looking for? We're been wandering around London for _hours_!" whined Cordelia, who had a personal mission to annoy Hagird to the best of her ability and force him to return her to her family. It wasn't working so far, but she had to try. Also, it was a way to take her mind off of the ceaseless wandering of the streets of Surrey. "And I'm hungry!"

They had been looking around for something, Cordelia wasn't exactly sure what, but it'd better be worth it. Her feet were tired, her stomach growled annoyingly, and she wanted more than anything to be at home, eating whatever her mother was cooking; but she really wanted to learn magic too, and discover a new world in which she could try to make a name of herself and make her parents proud of her.

"Well, I'suppose it wouldn't hurt ta git some food. I'm getting pretty hungry meself," Hagrid replied, rubbing his stomach forlornly.

"Okay, we'll make a little pit-stop and then go back to searching for whatever we're searching for," replied Cordelia who was glad that they were going to stop. _But seriously, you would think we should be riding on magic carpets or something. Honestly, we're wizards, what was the point of magic if you can't use it everyday? _

_Well, I guess this would give meh some time to explain meself to her. She can't exactly go around not knowing who she is. _Hagrid thought to himself.

They found a small Italian restaurant and sat down, waiting for the waiter to serve them. They flagged him down and began to order.

"I'll have the chicken marinara and a cola please," Cordelia ordered.

Hagrid ordered basically half of the menu much to both of the others' shock.

While waiting for their food, Hagrid leaned in and motioned for Cordelia to do the same, much to her irration, because Hagrid still smelled, although she had gotten somethat used to it. She wasn't sure about how his breath smelled either, but she didn't want to take that chance.

"There are some things I need to tell yeh before we get to Diagon Alley…" Hagrid started.

"What's Diagon alley?" Cordelia demanded, because it sounded like some run down alley that drug dealers would reside in.

"It's like a bunch'a wizarding shops in London, but anyways I gotta tell yeh something…" Hagrid tried to start again.

Cordelia nodded impatiently. She had the urge to make a remark that he told her that already, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"I think yeh should know summat about yerself…yer parents weren't muggles. Nope, they were summa the most powerful magical folk around. One o'tha oldest families too. Yeh see, yer surname is…is Vixen," Hagrid whispered as if he was afraid of being overheard. He waited for her reaction.

Cordelia was in shock. The _Vixens_? She was a Vixen? Impossible! They all died out ten years ago! The richest family in the world was rumored to live in England, anyways, and rumors also said they own two percent of the habitable part of the world. There were never paparazzi around the Vixen family, but the whole world knew they died, even their one-year-old daughter…Cordelia! That was she? Cordelia Vixen was Cordelia Mason? But what was she doing in the non-magical wold when Hagrid clearly said they were magical? It just didn't make sense. If she was really the Vixen heir, then wouldn't poeple be lining up at her door once her parents died to adopt her? Unless someone _did_ adopt her first, but why would they place her in a non-magical orphanage? Was she really that unlovable?

It was also a matter of looks, too. The Vixens were rumored to be stunning, movie star-like people. Long, flowing blonde hair and hazel, almost tawny brown eyes. Always, maybe that was the magic working in their roots? Not brown hair and drab brown eyes. She was sure it wasn't possible. Now she touched her hair and found it softer than before. _It was magic, after all,_ she thought, _I guess anything's possible_.

"Now I'm sure it's hard to wrap yer mind around this, but it's true," Hagrid said, startling her.

"Well, yer parents were Marius Vixen, but I fergot his 'maiden name' and Arabella Vixen," Hagrid continued, reaching for his plate of food that just came.

"What? My father had a maiden name?"

"Yeh, it's kinda odd, but the Vixen's are a strictly matriarchal family, although no one knows why. Therefore, the men who marry into the family have to change their names. I don't know why, but I can't remember yer father's name!"

"Don't worry, I don't really care much about names. But how did they die?" Cordelia asked softly.

Hagrid visibly gulped, "I-it was You-Know-Who's doing, he ordered their assassination. He got his Death Eaters to ambush them, and we were too later to save them."

"Wait, who? Who's You-Know Who? and who's we? _you_?" she was confused. She had no idea who You-Know-Who was, and Hagrid didn't seem like the superhero type to save her parents from _anyone_.

"He's the Dark Lord. He tried to take over the Wizarding World. Almost succeded, he did, if it weren't fer young Harry Potter. An' by we, I meant tha' Light Side. You-Know-Who was an' terrible man, did horrible things. Your parents fought against him."

"Doesn't the Dark Lord have a name? And what did Harry Potter do to kill the Dark Lord? does he have super amazing powers?"

"I can't say it… fine, his name was-was Voldemort-"

"Voldemort? That's a funny name. Who would name their kid Voldemort?"

"Shh! Not so loud! Well, I suppose yeh wouldn't understand… he was terrible… killed hundreds of muggles and wizards alike."

"Muggle?"

"Non-magical folk,"

"Oh, so what did this Harry Potter do to You-know-Who?"

Hagrid sighed in relief, he hated talking about the Dark Lord, it was like he was going to pop out any second and massacre them all. "Well Harry Potter defeated the Dark Lord, no one knows how, but the Dark Lord's own curse rebounded on him and was killed."

"Wow, this Harry Potter kid must have been really strong then," Cordelia, replied. She wanted to ask him how he could perform such a feat.

"Well, actually, he was only one years old. But he has a lightning bolt scar on his forehead to show where the curse hit him."

"Now I really want to meet him! Maybe he can teach me a few tricks to use against dark wizards then!"

"Uhh…he's only eleven, so he'll be in yer class in Hogwarts. Actually, he's who we're looking for. All tha owls we sent t'him haven't been replied. So we're kinda worried fer him," Hagrid replied.

"Why didn't I get an owl?" Cordelia demanded eagerly.

"Well, tha headmaster though it woulda been better if I just picked yeh up," Hagrid explained.

"Okay... Well do I get a letter now?" asked Cordelia.

"I'll give yeh yers when young Harry gets his too."

"Okay, that sounds about fair," replied Cordelia finishing her last bite of pasta.

Hours later

"Ruddy muggles! They jus' had to run as far as possible!" Hagrid growled.

They were currently in a tiny boat in the middle of the sea, searching in the last place in London anyone could think of.

Cordelia internally agreed, these muggles were certainly paranoid. They surely had to be running from the wizards, because a hut in the middle of a sea wasn't exactly a vacation. They also chose the time when a storm was approaching and the boat was open. Good thing Hagrid was a wizard, or she would have caught pneumonia from the cold. _Maybe Harry's parents thought they were being scammed from Hogwarts, _Cordelia thought, _my parents certainly thought so too_. She really didn't want to see Harry be taken away from his family like she was.

Finally, with the help of many charms, the tiny boat reached the rock where the hut stood.

Hagrid knocked loudly to wake up the people inside.

BOOM

The house shivered.

BOOM.

They heard a voice, and paused to listen to it. Nope, nothing.

Hagrid knocked again, and the door fell over. Cordelia smiled wryly. _If Hagrid did that to MY house, mother and father would have a fit. Then, they would call the police, and Hagrid would be in BIG trouble, _she thought to herself.

Hagrid somehow squeezed himself in the shack, and Cordelia followed, eager to get out of the rain. Hagrid fixed the door silently as Cordelia assessed her surroundings.

A pale, green-eyed boy was staring at them in horror on the floor. It looked like he had been sleeping there before with a threadbare blanket to cover him from the cold. A terribly fat boy was on the couch, whimpering in fear it was like he had seen the moster under his bed. Well, maybe he had. Cordelia had the urge to give him a predatory smile, but she didn't. On the stairs was an even fatter man holding a gun, which made Cordelia take an instinctively step behind Hagrid. There was no way she was going to get shot before him. Then, there was a skinny, frail looking woman who stared at them both in hate and disbelief. She sarcastically waved to her, and the woman quickly averted her gaze to Hagrid.

Hagrid broke the silence saying, "Couldn't make us a cup o'tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey…."

Cordelia was about to comment that, it was the biggest understatement of the year, but decided that now wasn't the time for sarcasm.

They strode over to the couch where the fat boy was hogging it all up. "Move it, fattie," Cordelia snapped annoyed, they couldn't even make them feel comfortable? Pathetic. These people were definitely not like her parents, so she didn't feel like she had to be nice to them. _I mean who lets someone sleep on the floor with a tiny blanket?_ She thought.

"An' here's Harry!" Hagrid exclaimed, causing the green-eyed boy to look up at him. He put on his glasses and she could see that they had tape all over them.

Cordelia didn't really pay anymore attention to what was going on, but she could dimly recall Hagrid destroying the fat man's gun and tossing it away. Then, Hagrid got a box from his pocket and presented it to "Harry."

_Hmmm. This is an interesting fellow. Pale, broken glasses, scrawny body, doesn't even look like he's eleven,_ she thought to herself. _He looked genuinely surprised when Hagrid gave him the cake, as if he's not used to getting presents at all…Oh, look, he speaks… _Then it hit her. _Harry? Harry Potter? Hero of the Wizarding World? Sleeping on the floor? Looking like her never ate enough or never reccieved any presents? It doesn't make any sense!_

The warmth flowed from the fire and into her body, which felt like she was taking a hot bath. She slowly drifted off into unconsciousness, despite her newfound revalation, only to be shaken up a few minutes later. Hagrid handed her two fat sausages, and she murmured a "thanks" before taking a big bite out of them.

"I'm sorry, but I don't really know who you are," Harry said looking at Hagrid, then he looked at Cordelia, "Or you," he added, quickly looking away and blushing, much to Cordelia's amusement.

"This is Cordelia. Just call me Hagrid, everyone does, an' I'm from Hogwarts, but yeh already know about that." Hagrid replied, finishing his sausages.

"Er—no," said Harry.

Hagrid looked shocked.

"Sorry!" squeaked Harry nervously.

"Sorry?" reapeated Cordelia disbelievingly, "you're apologizing for something because you have no idea what he's talking about?"

"Sorry? It's them who should be sorry! You mean you don't know?" roared Hagrid.

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry. Cordelia personally thought Hagrid was being terribly vague and he was probaby scaring Harry out of his skin right now.

"He means that you don't know you're a wizard?" cut in Cordelia, she just wanted to go to Diagon Alley and this was taking WAY too long for her liking.

"And yer famous Harry, and so were yer parents," Hagrid added in.

"But my parents died in a car accident!" protested Harry.

"WHAT? No they didn't! They-" Hagird roared.

"Stop it! Don't say ANYTHING! I forbid you!" yelled the fat man. Cordelia forgot he was still in the room, but there he was, huddling in the corner with the rest of his family.

"Like you could forbid Hagrid from saying anything!" snapped Cordelia. _He deserves to know the truth about his parents, _she thought.

"Yer parents were killed by-" Hagrid began, but Georgina cut in, "Voldemort"

"Don't say that name!" exclaimed Hagrid.

"It's just a name," Cordelia muttered, rolling her eyes.

"But he did terrible things!" Hagrid protested.

"Did his name do terrible things too? I didn't think so!" she snapped back.

"Whatever! But I swear that boy is NOT going!" the fat man screamed bitterly.

"Going where?" asked Harry, he was genuinely confused now.

"To Hogwarts, where you learn magic. Don't listen to fatty muggle over there though, of course you're going, wouldn't you want to get away from these people who've made you sleep on the floor?" Cordelia assured. She was stark tired and wanted to stop the yelling. Now.

"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled the stick woman, who was just watching the exchange in horror before.

Suddenly, Hagrid turned red, "NEVER—INSULT—ALBUS—DUMBLEDORE—IN FRONT OF ME!" In a swishing motion, he broght his umbrella, which Cordelia had not noticed, down on the fat boy, and he suddenly grew a tail!

Cordelia couldn't help it. She just stared. then she turned angrily to Hagrid, "What'd you do that for?"

The proud grin was immediately wiped off of Hagrid's face, and began to mutter apologies.

"Well, change it back already!" Cordelia demanded. She didn't like using magic on helpless muggles, even if they were rude.

"Er- I don' know how to," mumbled Hagrid.

Cordelia growled angrily. Who in their right mind would send this oaf to pick up children? He obviously couldn't control his temper and he wasn't even properly educated. She glard at him one last time, then curled up on the couch before she said something she would regret later on.

Hagrid and Harry stayed up so Hagrid could tell Harry about how his parents died.

Cordelia woke up to a tapping noise on the door. She could see that Harry had just woke up also. She smiled at him, and he smiled back hesitatingly. She could tell he wasn't used to having friends quite yet.

"What is that annoying noise?" Cordelia complained. They looked over at the window and saw an owl carrying a newspaper that kept tapping on the glass windowpane. Harry let it in, and it dropped the paper, but began attacking the coat.

"What do you want?" asked Harry, trying to shoo the owl away, but it wasn't working.

"Pay it," Cordelia suggested. Together they dug into Hagrid's pockets, and she wasn't surprised to see dormice lived in there. She sneered, _how unsanitary_. Finally, they found a pouch with a very odd set of coins.

"Hagrid! How do we pay it?" Cordelia hissed urgently, wrinkling her nose because of the smell the owl and Hagrid omitted.

"Give it five little bronze ones," Hagrid mumbled sleepily, rolling over, "Oh, and you can grab yer Hogwarts letters while yer at it."

After the owl was paid, the two children found their Hogwarts letter and opened them eagerly.

Cordelia read hers aloud for Hagrid, incase he didn't know how to read:

Dear Miss Vixen,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. we await your owl no later than July 31.

Yours Sincerely,

Minevra McGonagall

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

_of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

UNIFORM

First-year students will require:

1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)

2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear

3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

COURSE BOOKS

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

by Miranda Goshawk

_A History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot

_Magical Theory _by Adalbert Waffling

_A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

by Phyllida Spore

_Magical Drafts and Potions _by Arsenius Jigger

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

by Newt Scamander

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand

1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials

1 telescope

1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

"Can we get all of there in London?" Harry asked.

"Sure you can, if you know where to get them!" Cordelia replied, "we're going to Diagon Alley, or whatever. No, it's not where drug dealers live."

"B-but I don't have any money.." Harry stammered.

"Nonsense! Don't yeh think yer parents left yeh something? It's at Gringotts, wizarding bank!" Hagrid said, ushering them on the tiny boat, without saying good bye to Harry's relatives.

"Really? Where's Gringotts?" Harry asked curiously. He wasn't sure if the boat could hold all of them.

"Diagon Alley," Cordelia and Hagrid replied simultaneously.

**Author's Note: ****Well, here's a longer chapter for you! Ack, I lied. I won't be able to update over the weekend because I'm going on another trip. Sorry!**


	5. Diagon Alley

**Author's Note: **** I don't own Harry Potter. **

**Also, sorry about the little wait up. I'll try to update sooner!**

Chapter Four: Diagon Alley

.: Parseltongue :.

"So tell us more about Gringotts," Cordelia requested, "how do they store all the coins and stuff? Do they have cash registers and stuff?"

"Gringotts is the wizardin' bank. Run by goblins. Yeh'd be mad ter try an'rob it. It's ter safest place in the world, except fer maybe Hogwarts. Which reminds me, I gott'er go there anyway. Hogwarts business," Hagrid replied.

"But how do they know you're you? We don't really have ID's or anything..." Cordelia continued anxiously.

"Er- what's an id?" Hagrid asked, not familiar with the muggle terms.

"An identification. If we didn't have those, couldn't anyone rob Gringotts?" Harry asked, "it can't be guarded that heavily though right?"

"Heard dragons guarded it, blimey, I always wanted me a dragon… since I was a kid." Hagrid said wistfully.

Cordelia was about to say that he didn't really answer their questions, but she saw Hagrid staring dreamily off into space, an odd sight. She gave a pointed look to Harry that clearly said: _Boy, he was no help. _Harry sent back a look that said, _this guy is a little wacky. _Cordelia nodded fervently, happy that someone agreed with her deduction. Hagrid seemed nice and all, but he didn't seem to be the brightest crayon in the box.. Fearing a name? Wanting a dragon? Using an umbrella to do magic on _muggles_? Talk about abusing power.

"We're almost there!" Hagrid called out. They had to take a train to downtown London, and and Harry and Cordelia were staring out the window in excitement and happily chattering about unicorns and threee-headed monsters that could be roaming around in the magical world. She liked Harry, he was nice, a bit humble and meek, but he was also very amusing.

As they were almost in London, Harry was telling Cordelia about how his aunt almost made him go to the local public school, Stonewall High and his cousin was going to Smeltings.

"Yeah, and Smelting's uniforms are hideous! One day, Dudley paraded around the living room for us in his uniform. He wore a maroon tailcoat, a orange knickerbocker, and a flat straw hat called boaters. And Uncle Vernon also said they had these knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking. He said This was good training for later life. I still don't get how this is 'good training" Harry deadpanned, while Cordelia was rubbing her stomach from laughter.

"Really now? That's the most absurd school I've heard of in my life! Well, with the exception of this one," Cordelia exclaimed, while sending them in another fit of laughter at Dudley's clothes and new school.

"I know! Well, at least I'm not going there! Is orange really my color?" Harry laughed, not used to laughing this much with someone, as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.

Finally, they arrived in downtown London, and Hagrid lead them around until he found what he was looking for: a tiny, grubby looking pub with a sign that said: Leaky Cauldron. Cordelia was sure Harry would have missed it if Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, because Harry wasn't the most observant person in the world. She noted in distaste at the sign hanging feebly from the post. Normally, she wouldn't be caught dead entering a building like this, but she figured this was a special circumstance. From her side, she could see Harry goggling in confusionat the run down looking pub. At least it seemed like none of the passersby noticed it.

"Um, Hagrid, we're too young to drink. I think you've been mistaken," Harry said bluntly, while Cordelia tried not to laugh at his serious face.

"Don't be silly! This is an' famous place y'know!" Hagrid said cheerfully, slapping them both on the back heartily. Harry winced and rubbed his back. Cordelia stiffened and whispered to Harry, "Where has that hand been? It doesn't look like he ever washes it."

Hagrid quickly looked away and motioned them to go in, but Harry was looking at her mentally saying, _you go first! _Codelia rolled her eyes and opened the door to the so called "famous place." _For a famous place, it was sure dark and shabby. There were witches in the corner—drinking? Hagrid _had _taken them to a bar_! _Liar! _She shuddered at the thoughts of her parents ever finding out about this, and whe was immediately sad at the prospect of not seeing them until the next summer. _Maybe I can send them a letter or something._

"The usual, Hagrid?" the bartender asked, reaching for a glass. Harry and Cordelia exchanged another _look. _For having just met, they were becoming very fast friends.

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," Hagrid said, patting Harry and Cordelia's shoulders, much to both of their annoyance. The whole room fell silent. _Great, now we're going to get bombarded,_ Cordelia thought sarcastically. She looked at Harry, who was beginning to do a countdown with his fingers. _5...4...3...2...1... Bam._

"Can it be? Harry Potter? Oh—what an honor…ahh! Cordelia Vixen! We thought you were dead!" Tom exclaimed, clutching his heart.

Georgina frowned. She had the urge to say that she was, and she was currently a ghost sent by death to haunt people she didn't know; but she had no idea if they were actually going to believe her, or catch on to the joke.

Everyone was looking at them, or rather Harry. Some were looking at her with expressions of shock, fear, or excitement. Then, all of a sudden, everyone came to shake Harry and her hands. They said some things to Harry, bowed excitedly to him, and did all sorts of hero-worshipping things to him. With her, they just stared, or smiled, waved, and scurried off quickly, but not before catching another look at Harry.

Finally, a pale man with a purple turban (which smelled awful, noted Cordelia) came up and introduced himself as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He kept on stammering at Harry, but when he approached Cordelia, his whole demeanor changed, not that anyone else in the pub cared or noticed. They were still gushing over Harry.

He stood up straightly and looked her straight in the eye. Cordelia smiled serenely at him.

"Hello, professor. I must say I am quite interested in your subject" Cordelia said earnestly, although she had never heard of Defense Against the Dark Arts, but it sounded interesting, so it was only a half-lie.

"Y-yes, I h-h-have to s-say. My subject is q-q-q-uite the killer!" Quirrel said somewhat convincingly. His new demeanor didn't fit with his stutter and she wondered if he even had one int he first place. Probably not, but why would he fake it?

When he was gone, her mouth twisted into a frown, as she pondered this new mystery. But for now, she would be especially wary with Quirrel.

It almost took another ten minutes to get away from the rest of the crowd. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.

"Must get on-Lots ter buy. Come on Harry, you too Cordelia."

"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

"Is he always that nervous?" Cordelia asked suspiciously

"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?"

Woah, Vampires, Hags? What kinds of creatures did they not know about in the muggle world?

Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, Harry."

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.

The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight. Cordelia kept the combination in her mind in case she needed it later.

"Welcome, to Diagon Alley!" Hagrid said grinning at the two kids, "we'll be off ter Gringotts first."

Harry and Cordelia barely registered Hagrid's words, as they looked at everything in amazement. A cauldron shop sold cauldrons in all shapes and sizes, ranging from brass, copper, gold, and silver. An apothecary sold odd parts such as dragon liver, troll eyes, and bat blood. At Eeylops Owl Emporium there were all different types of owls, hooting merrily. Cordelia pointed to a group of kids near a broomstick shelf, all admiring the latest model. "It must cost a lot to clean the floors," she muttered dryly, causing Harry to laugh loudly. Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore was filled with titles she hadn't even heard of before. Madam Malkin's Robes had the odd clothing she had seen all the witches and wizards wear. Finally, a huge, snow-white building with beautiful polished bronze doors stood, looming over the other shops…Gringotts.

Inside, there were little creatures with beards, and a greedy look on their face. They bowed to the trio and walked away.

"Are those-," asked Harry, "Goblins!" Cordelia exclaimed excitedly. She had just seen her first magical creature!

Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

_Enter, stranger, but take heed_

_Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

_For those who take, but do not earn,_

_Must pay most dearly in their turn._

_So if you seek beneath our floors_

_A treasure that was never yours,_

_Thief, you have been warned, beware_

_Of finding more than treasure there._

"Like I said, Yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid, to which Harry replied, "Sounds creepy."

They walked up to a counter where a goblin waited patiently for the next customer.

"Morning, We're come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Cordelia Vixen's vault. An' I got a letter from Professor Dumbledore about the you-know-what vault seven hundred and thirteen," Hagrid explained.

"Do you have Mr. Potter's key? And Miss Vixen will have to draw some blood from her vault, since I'm assuming she doesn't have a wand yet," replied the goblin while reading over the letter. "Very well, Griphook will take you to your vaults. Griphook!"

Yet another goblin came and led them to another set of doors that lead to a stone passageway that had railroad tracks on the floor. A tiny cart appeared and Griphook ushered them in.

The cart only went one speed, which was very fast. Cordelia gripped Harry's arm desperately trying not to scream her head off. It looked like Hagrid was going to retch at any second. Harry looked like he was having the time of his life, despite the fact that he might have to get his arm amputated later. Finally the cart stopped and they got off. Hagrid leant against the wall to keep from falling over and Georgina still hadn't released Harry's arm.

"Potter Vault," croaked Griphook, unlocking the door and pushing it open. Inside were mounds of gold coins, columns of silver and heaps of bronze. Cordelia heard Harry gasp next to her. She smirked. She couldn't wait to see _her_ fortune.

"Seventeen silver sickles to one gold galleon, twenty-nine knuts to a sickle, its easy enough," Hagrid explained before helping Harry shovel some money in a bag that Griphook handed out. After Harry's vault the trio got back into the cart, for an even longer and wilder cart ride.

The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late— they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

Despite Cordelia being scared out of her wits, she let out a bubbly laugh at Harry's random question.

Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid, not looking amused at all. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

Unfortunately, Hagrid was also clutching Harry's bag of coins, which would be unfortunate if he decided to barf in it.

They got out again fifteen minutes later, to go to vault seven hundred and thirteen. There was no keyhole.

_Odd,_ mused Cordelia, _how are they supposed to get in, then?_

Griphook gently stroked his fingernail on the door and it gently melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. Cordelia giggled. Goblins had an odd sense of humor, it seemed.

It was a tiny package lying on the floor wrapped in brown paper. She frowned, and noticed Harry doing the same, obviously wondering how a tiny package like that could be so important. Hagrid scooped up the package and stuffed it in his pocket, patting it safely.

_Finally, I'll see what my vault looks like! _Cordelia thought excitedly when they were back in the cart. They arrived where there were no tracks left. It was the last vault.

"Vault one thousand," Griphook announced nasally, "we need a sample of your blood please, Miss Vixen, here's a needle, and prick it on your finger, then press it to the vault."

She did as she was told, wincing slightly when she had to poke herself. When her bloodied finger on the door, the doors creaked open loudly.

Everyone except for Griphook's jaws dropped open.

The vault was MUCH larger than expected, and the contents made Harry's vault look like a handful of coins. There was no silver or bronze. Only gold. Cordelia was sure that her fortune made up the core of the earth, it was so huge.

Blankly, she scooped up as many gold galleons as she could before walking out and back stepping in the cart.

"Griphook? How did I get all this money?" Cordelia asked politely. She wanted to know if it was rightfully hers, or if it really was someone else's.

"Well, in addition to your family's stocks and buisnesses that they own, you also get six percent of Hogwart's yearly income, being an Heir and all.."

"An heir? What do you mean?"

"Er- can we get moving now? i'm sure you can ask when yer older," Hagrid interrupted nervously, 'I think I need to see the light again soon."

Cordelia stared at him, not sure if he didn't ant her to know what an Heir was or if he really was sick and needed to be on solid ground.

"Blimey! Did you see how large that vault was?" Harry exclaimed loudly, shaking her out of her reverie.

"I know! I really didn't know I had that much!" Cordelia smiled back, happy that her friend wasn't jealous or anything.

One wild cart ride later, the trio found themselves outside of Gringotts.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick.

"No we don't mind, Hagrid. We'll meet you there later," Cordelia replied happy to be rid of him.

"Race ya there, Harry!" squealed Cordelia, taking off.

Harry beat her there even though she got a head start, but he told her she did a great job anyways.

Georgina thought to herself, it wouldn't hurt to get a few extra robes, would it? Since she would be using them for a while and money wasn't a problem. So she told Madam Malkin to get her a few more robes in different colors.

They both were getting fitted with a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. Cordelia was getting fitted with another seamstress, who was gushing about how adorable she would look with her new robes.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Harry.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Cordelia's eyes widened. "But you don't want to get in trouble on the first day, would you? That's embarassing!"

The blonde boy blushed, apparently he didn't think of it that far, "But they wouldn't know teachers never catch those sorts of things!"

Cordelia just shrugged, while Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.

"Have _you _got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. He looked over at Cordelia who was talking to the seamstress.

"_I _do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage _— lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's all right, he's a little odd, but then again, most wizards are" said Harry mildly.

"_Do _you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "But why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Harry shortly. He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.

"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all.

"But they were _our _kind, weren't they?"

"Yes they were humans. Were _yours_?" Cordelia cut in sarcastically, as she was done talking to the seamstress and hopping off the stool.

"You know that's not what I meant," the boy said dryly.

With new confidence with his friend by his side, Harry boldly added, "No, we don't know you, so why would we know what you meant?"

The boy looked irrated, and huffed. He was about to say something when Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.

"See you at Hogwarts!" Cordelia said cheerfully, back at the boy, and she and Harry walked out of the store with their new wizard robes, the blonde boy looking thoughtfully after them.

They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's, Cordelia growing angrier and angrier about how he made Harry feel.

"— and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"

"Yer not _from _a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh _were _— he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"So what _is _Quidditch?" asked Cordelia, not letting Hagrid get away with not answering.

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules."

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?" asked Harry.

"School houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

"Vol-, sorry —You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

"Woah," breathed Cordelia and Harry together.

They finally reached the bookstore, and while Hagrid was getting their schoolbooks, Cordelia and Harry wandered off to look at some more.

Currently, they were at the History section of the bookstore.

"Look!" Cordelia whispered urgently, "I think I'm going to get these books!"

She held up the book so Harry could see it. _A Brief History of Prominent Pureblood Families_, by Bathilda Bagshot and _Simple Charms and Spells for the Beginner_, by Adalbert Waffling.

"Cool!" Harry exclaimed, "Do you think my family's in there?" he asked, pointing to the first book.

"Probably," replied Cordelia, bringing it up to the cashier and paying for the books, "I heard the Potters were a pretty old family."

Luckily, she had paid for her books in advance because Hagrid refused to let Harry get _Curses and Countercurses (Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More) _by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

Hagrid led them out of Flourish and Blotts and into the cauldron store. Harry and Cordelia both wanted a gold cauldron, but Hagrid wouldn't allow it, but they got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope.

Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes (five Knuts a scoop).

"But I haven't gotten yer birthday present yet, Harry," Hagrid said pushing him to the Eeylops Owl Emporium, which was connected to the Magical Menagerie, where Cordleia wandered through. Harry had already promised to share his owl with her so she could use it to mail her parents.

She was looking through the cages, looking for a potential pet, but all of the animals looked so high-matinence, and so _furry. _Although the list said only a toad, owl, or cat, she reckoned the teachers wouldn't be able to figure out she was the one who had a different animal, unless Harry tattled on her, which she was certain he wouldn't. Cordelia wanted a pet that would make her seem respected, and maybe a little feared. She considered the baby panther, but when she got closer to it, it tried to scratch her. She huffed at it, and thought _no mammals. _

She didn't want a bird, either because then she wouldn't be able to show it off because it would have to stay in the owlry. Also, if she wanted a bird, she would get some type of owl, so it could at least deliver mail and be somewhat useful.

A toad or amphibian was completely out of the question, as they were slimy and ugly too. Not to mention it would probably stink or run off to God knows where.

Cordelia was about to go into the magical creatures section, but she was stopped by one of the workers, saying she would have to bring a parent or guardian to sign the release forms. She scowled and moved to the last section, the snakes.

The snake section was a mess of jumbled hisses. Suprised she could understand them, she looked through the cages, and was dismayed to see most of them were simple garden snakes and other harmless species. As she moved to the back, though there were bigger vipers, much to her delight.

.:Hello:. She hissed to a sleeping boa constrictor.

It sleepily nodded at her, and went back to sleep. _Boring,_ she thought. She was about to leave, before an excited hiss called out for her.

.:Mistresss, Mistresss:.

.: Yes?:. She replied back, finding a small black snake peering up at her from its cage.

.:Take me, take me. The ownerss would not notice, they have been trying to get rid of me for monthsss :. it replied.

.:Yeah, because you're jussst a baby ssnake!:. hissed another snake that was sitting on a rock above them.

.:I ssstill have all the enchantments put on me!:. the smalled snake argued, .:and my mother told me all about the World!:.

.:Sstill, the nice missstress wouldn't want a puny ssnake like you:. the other snake hissed smugly.

.:Actually, that would be nice, sso can I jussst take you? :. Cordelia asked the little snake that was peering hopefully at her.

.: Yess, I will sslide on you arm, don't worry, I would never bite a ssspeaker :. The snake said smugly.

With that, the whole reptile house began to hiss at once, .:Ssspeaker? sshe iss a sspeaker? We thought sshe just had an enchantment! Take me, take me too! :. they begged.

Cordelia looked confused for a few seconds, but thought it would be wise to leave as quickly as possible before a worker came over and found out she had caused some disturbance with the snakes and had stolen one of them.

She dashed out of the shop, finding Harry and Hagrid waiting for her, Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing.

"Found anything you liked?" Hagrid inquired.

"Nope," Cordelia replied, "Although the snakes did creep me out." She winced as the snake on her forearm coiled tighter, as if it heard what she said. She was suddenly thankful for full sleeves.

"All right then. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand." Hagrid said.

A magic wand… this was what Harry and Cordelia had been really looking forward to.

**Author's note: Whew, that was a long chapter! I hoped you liked it though! Please review, and I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP!**


	6. Mr Ollivander's

Author's Note: All right, here's chapter five! Sorry it took practically forever, but I just started this summer school, and it's pretty much been hectic.

Also, for the people who have been commenting on the typos, I recently got Microsoft Word, so that should definitely help.

Chapter Five: Mr. Ollivander

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait. Harry felt strangely as though he had entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions that had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. He looked over his shoulder to see Cordelia looking around in awe, completely aware of the magic surrounding them.

Cordelia was afraid that Hagrid might knock over some of the boxes, but surprisingly he didn't. A soft bell chimed in the distance.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair. Cordelia hid a snigger behind her hand, but the man whose eyes lighted up in amusement caught her.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes.

"Er- yes? Have you been expecting us or something?" Cordelia asked curiously.

"I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter," said the man, ignoring Cordelia's question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.

"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favored it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.

Cordelia was awkwardly standing to the side. She wasn't quite used to being ignored, but she didn't really want to be put in the spotlight like Harry was. He looked like a deer in the headlights, while Mr. Ollivander looked completely at ease. _It's almost as if he does this on a regular basis, _She thought, giggling. She touched her forearm, happy that the little black snake had fallen asleep, nesting on her warmth. Cordelia would be utterly embarrassed if it bit Mr. Ollivander while he was talking to her.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.

Cordelia's ears perked up at the mention of Harry's scar. She wanted to know more about this Dark Lord. Hagrid seemed awfully tightlipped about him.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

He failed to notice Harry and Cordelia raptly listening to the information and hoping he would tell more.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

Cordelia groaned, they were this close to getting more information about the Dark Lord, and Hagrid ruined it again, though this time unconsciously. She saw Harry with a similar face of irritation and she made a face behind Mr. Ollivander's back.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't _use _them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. _Sure he doesn't, _thoughtCordelia sarcastically, _but what had Hagrid done to get himself expelled?_

"Well, now — Mr. Potter. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

Cordelai giggled at Harry's surprised expression. Unfortunately, he caught her and mouthed, _you're next, _which promptly shut her up. _Dang it,_ she thought.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"

Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Er- excuse me? What exactly are you looking for?" Cordelia asked quietly, voicing Harry's thoughts.

Mr. Ollivander turned sharply, "We are looking for the right combination, and you'll know it when you see it. You see, wands choose your magical core. So far, none of these wands seem to like your core, but that's all right!"

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.

He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. "Woah," Cordelia breathed.

Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious… curious…"

"Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"

Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.

"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."

"So Harry's wand is Vodemort's brother wand? What does it mean?" Cordelia asked in awe.

"It means we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great," Mr. Ollivander said solemnly, getting the tape measure out for Cordelia.

His mood suddenly lightened when he saw Cordelia sitting on the chair looking blankly ahead. "Miss Vixen! I remember your parents very well. Your mother had madrona with a veela hair for the core. I never liked veela hair, but that wand worked out fine for her. Defined her personality well, too: madrona is beautiful but rare, and veelas temperamental, but very powerful when controlled. I must admit that that was the only veela wand I made. Your father, in contrast, had a dragon heartstring laced with erumpent hide, ebony. Extremely powerful. You see, dragon heartstrings are used by powerful wizards, but laced with an erumpent hide, can be very destructive. Add the ebony for some fireworks, and you have a _very_ deadly wand. I yearn to see what type of wand you have, Miss Vixen," Mr. Olivander whispered excitedly.

"Er- all right." Cordelia said nervously as the tape measure began to measure every inch of her, as it did with Harry. On the inside, she was very nervous. Her parents seemed like very powerful wizards, and what if she didn't live up to their legacy?

"Hornbeam, twelve inches, unicorn hair, quite sturdy," he said, giving her a wand.

The minute she touched it, the wand emitted a dark cloud that smelled awful.

"Oh? This is very interesting. It seems your talent is not very subtle, no not at all. That means no unicorn hairs for you!" Mr. Ollivander squealed excitedly.

Cordelia lost track of how many wands she went through, but it was much more than Harry's. Maybe she wasn't a witch after all. Hagrid had fallen asleep, while Harry was looking at the large pile of wands in awe.

"Ah, just like your parents! They had an unusual core that's why. Auguery tail feather, twelve inches, willow, ah, no that won't do!" He said, snatching another wand away.

Twelve wands later, Mr. Ollivander brought out a very old box with dust piled all over it. "I believe we must try this wand. It is the most unique wand I have here, try it, give it a little swish. Siren feather laced with a basilisk heartstring. Fir, nine inches."

The minute Cordelia touched it, she felt rightness, then wrongness immediately after. The wand fired away from her and flew back into its box. She almost growled in annoyance, being rejected that badly by a wand was kind of embarrassing.

Mr. Ollivander looked at her thoughtfully. "Hm, perhaps we took the wrong steps somewhere along there. Maybe you aren't destined for an unusual core. But the other wands weren't reacting very well either…" he seemed to be muttering to himself.

Cordelia looked like she was about to cry. So she wouldn't live up to her parents after all. Did that mean she was weaker than them? Maybe she wasn't even her parents' daughter?

Mr. Ollivander came back with a dusty pillowcase with a wand that was light gray and dark brown, the two colors spiraling around each other beautifully.

"Here- try this wand. If this isn't the wand for you, I'm afraid I might have to custom make you a wand, which will take a few weeks. Don't be afraid, just take it!" Mr. Ollivander said, watching her curiously.

Cordelia hesitated, and then slowly reached for the wand. When she touched it this time, she felt like it was testing her.

_Do you think you can master me? _A rumbling voice asked in her mind. It hurt her head, as if the voice was never meant to speak to humans.

_No, I don't, but I believe if we work together in harmony, we will master each other. _She answered back mentally.

_Such wise words for such a young girl, do you not know I have cursed many who were older and wiser than you are now? _The voice asked mockingly.

Cordelia's eyes widened. _But those were the ones who wished to control you; to have you fit their magical core. If you do not match me, I will not force you to choose me. If you wish so, I will let go of this wand right now! _She thought desperately, she had no desire to be cursed on her first trip to the wizarding world.

_Perhaps, perhaps, _the voice said amusedly, _you would make a good Priestess of Malassa, but somehow the light of Elrath shines in you too. An unusual combination, maybe you are worthy of me. _

_A Priestess of whom? The light of whom? Please tell me! I don't get what you're saying! _Cordelia thought back, _who are these people?_

The voice chuckled_. You have much to learn, but all in due time. You will restore the old ways, perhaps, if the old ways are meant to be restored._

_What? I still don't get what you're saying… _Cordelia trailed off, as the voice slowly lost its presence.

"Amazing! Amazing!" Mr. Ollivander cried, clapping his hands, "it's about time that wand's been sold!"

Cordelia was still dazed from her conversation with the- what was it?

"Mr. Ollivander, what _is _this wand?" she asked curiously, trying to ignore the pounding headache from the voice talking in her head.

"Well, yes, I suppose I owe you this story then. After I finished studying under my master in wandlore, I had to take a test in wandmaking. If I passed, which I did of course, I would have to go to the Council of Wandmakers in Germany to receive my certificate. Without the certificate, the ministry would have my head for being an unaccredited wandmaker, which is a serious offense. Well, also at the council, the one of the master officials took me to a room that had thousands of different, rare wand cores. I guess the tradition was that the core we received at the certification would be the first wand we made as an official wandmaker. There were so many different cores: augury heart, phoenix ashes, dementor's essence, chimera's breath, anything you could think of. However, one core drew me the most, a heartstring of some sorts. I asked the master what it was and he told me it was a dragon heartstring. I quickly moved away from it at first, surprised that such a common ingredient would be stored with such priceless cores. The master looked unsurprised at my action, so I suppose he got that all the time. When I looked closer at the heartstring though, I felt such power radiating from it, such ancient magic! I immediately picked it as my wand core, and the master smiled at me. He told me that that ingredient was usually overlooked when other wandmakers discovered it was only a dragon heartstring. He told me that it was one of the heartstrings of a very old dragon, and that they had found its heart buried a mile underneath a dragon's preserve in a wooden box. The heart was still pumping when they saw it. Unfortunately, when they started to harvest the heart, most of it was damaged in the process, so they could only get a few good cores in. I was astounded at the dragon heartstring I had in my hand, and I vowed to make the best wand I could out of it. I combined elder and yew for the wood, because most of the woods I tried were incompatible with it. I've longed for the day that I sold the wand to a formidable witch or wizard," Mr. Ollivander said, reminiscing.

"This is a very special wand, and you are a very special witch. Don't you forget that all right?" Mr. Ollivander said seriously.

"I won't," Cordelia replied smiling. She was glad that she had at least a semi-unique wand, even if it was just an old dragon heartstring. Well, her father also had a dragon heartstring, so at least she resembled one of her parents.

Harry paid for his wand (Mr. Ollivander insisted that Cordelia took the wand for free), and she, Hagrid, and Harry left the shop in high spirits.

"Well, I best get yeh home, Harry," Hagrid said, breaking the silence, "Professor Dumbledore said it was alright for you to stay there, Cordelia, so you won't have to go back home."

"But I _want_ to go back home!" Cordelia whined, she wanted to show her parents and sister how cool her new wand looked!

"Cordelia, remember, what we talked about?" Hagrid said warningly.

"But I-" she tried again.

"I'm sure yeh could jus' send them a letter, now let's get going!" Hagrid boomed.

Harry felt bad for Cordelia, but he couldn't help but feel happy that he would have a friend to stay with for the rest of the summer. That way, Dudley wouldn't be able to pick on him as much.

Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for reading!

-I figured I wanted Cordelia to be more realistic, and not too super powered (she's the heir of Slytherin though, so it's kind of hard to make her "normal"). I originally had her with the siren and basilisk wand, but that seemed very unrealistic. The wands that Ollivander were referring to her parents having were acquired by them in their later years.

-Also, the stuff the dragon said with Malassa and Elrath won't be important until the end of fourth or fifth year. Anyways, they are Dragon gods found in Heroes 5 (if you've ever played that game).


	7. Number Four Privet Drive

**Author's Note: This will be my last chapter until I take a little break, not much unlike the one between chapters four and five. Bear with me here!**

**In this chapter, Harry and Cordelia are going to become closer, and we'll find more about them.**

**Reviews are much appreciated!**

Chapter Six: Number Four Privet Drive.

Number Four Privet Drive looked like a normal house at first glance. Large and square, there was a garden fence in the front with flowerbeds behind it. The place overall looked very neat and well kept, no doubt all Harry's doing.

"So who are the people who live here again?" asked Cordelia, "there are three of them right?"

"Er- yeah. There's Dudley, he's the one Hagrid turned into a pig, Uncle Vernon Dursley, he the really fat one, and then Petunia Dursley, the only skinny one," Harry replied scratching his head, "I think you'll sleep in my bedroom or the guest room, but we'll figure that out when we get inside."

"All right, here goes nothing," Cordelia said knocking on the door loudly. The door opened shortly after, and there was the fat man smiling pleasantly while he opened the door.

"He looks a little constipated," whispered Cordelia to Harry quietly, and they both burst into soft giggles.

"GET IN HERE BOY!" roared Vernon, once he realized who was on the other side of the door.

"We don' need anymore o' that Dursley, now if yeh don' mind, Cordelia here's gonna stay with you folk. Yeh don' mind, right?" Hagrid said threateningly.

"N-no we don't!" squeaked Vernon nervously, "Well, children, get inside now!"

"Yes, sir," Harry mumbled, dropping his head and taking his stuff up the stairs. It was a rather startling change from the boy who was laughing with Cordelia a few seconds earlier.

When Hagrid was ushered away, Cordelia asked, " Er-Where should I put my stuff?"

"In Potter's room of course! Do you think we're going to let you contaminate our guest bedroom with your freakishness?" yelled Vernon incredulously.

"Believe me, I want to be here no more than you want me here," Cordelia muttered while she grumpily hauled her school supplies up the stairs. This was definitely _not _like her parents.

After hauling their school supplies in the bedroom, Cordelia asked, "Were they always like this?"

"Yeah," Harry replied, "and I never knew why. But I always knew I was different. Once, Dudley and his gang were chasing me and somehow I ended up on the roof. And and other time, I vanished the glass on a boa constrictor's cage and it escaped. Somehow I could talk to it. It was so weird."

"You can talk to snakes too? That's so cool! Look, I bought, well er-took, a snake at Diagon Alley!" Cordelia whispered excitedly, holding up the little black snake that was still dozing peacefully on her forearm.

.: Hellooo. Wake up… you've been sleeping for hours! :. Cordelia said, shaking it slightly.

.:Well excusse me, missstress, but your arm is ssuch a delightful warmer, :. The snake hissed back irritably.

.: Sorry, er- ssnake, but you have to meet my friend Harry. He can sspeak to snakes too! :. Cordelia said excitedly.

.: Hello there, little snake. Do you have a name yet? :. Harry asked politely.

.: You're right, Harry! Our little ssnake friend hass no name yet! :. Cordelia added.

.: It would be an honor to be named by two wonderful sspeakers as yourselves :. The snake hissed, pleased that it had found such wonderful masters. Little did it know, its joy would be short lived.

.: Sso, are you a boy snake or a girl ssnake? :. Asked Harry, trying to think of some snake-worthy names.

.: I am female, if that'ss what you're asking :. She replied.

.: Hmmm, and tell uss about your past :. Cordelia said, tapping her chin.

The poor snake had no idea where her two masters were going with this, but she answered anyways. .: Well, I wass born to two black mamba ssnakes. I had four previous owners. They ended up returning me within a week because I kept biting their nestlings :.

She looked slightly confused at the two humans, who were pondering her new name.

.: Jusst don't name me "Bob" or some idiotic common name like that :. The snake requested, eager to hear what kind of power demanding name her new masters would give her.

.: Hmmm, I'd say "Jack the Ripper," but ssince you're a girl, we would have to change that to "Jackie the Ripper." :. Cordelia said out loud.

The snake's eyes widened in shock. She would not be called "Jackie the Ripper"!

.: Nah, Cordelia, you've taken the wrong approach. It should be something warm and snuggly like Snuffles, or something :. Harry protested.

.: Harry, really? What part of a venomouss ssnake says "warm and cuddly"? It hass to be something from a horror movie or something! What about "Chucky"? :. Cordelia appealed.

.: No! Tigger! :.

.: Darth Vader! :.

.: That's a boy'ss name, you dolt! Clearly her name should be Meeko! :.

.: That's a boy'ss name too, you idiot! The Wicked Witch of the West! :.

.: That's so prejudiced! Bambi! :.

.: I don't want my snake to be named after a _deer!_ She should be Cruella De Vil! :.

.: She should be named after a villain who wants a spotted jacket? Talk about lame! Dumbo is a much better fit! :.

.: Shut up! Sshe's my snake! I ssshould name her! From now on, your name will be the Beast! :.

.: Rock, paper, scissors then! :.

.; Fine, Harry, you're on! :. Unfortunately, Cordelia used rock (as she always did, but Harry didn't know that), while Harry used paper.

.: Aarrrg! I'll hurl a boulder at you and you try defending yourself with a piece of paper!:.

.: You're just a ssore loser! Snake, your name will be Thumper! :.

.: Whaaat? Thumper? No way! I promise the next name that you pick I'll agree to! Jusst not Thumper! :.

.: Well, all right :. Harry said, smiling evilly, .: Pumba it is then! :.

Cordelia made a choking sound, but she couldn't say anything bad because of the promise she made to Harry.

When the snake, now known a Pumba, realized that she had finally been given a name, she began hissing angrily, .: Fools! How dare you give me such a pathetic name! For that I sshould bite you! My name should be something magnificent like Cleopatra! :.

The two eleven-year-olds turned to look at each other in disbelief before… laughing abruptly.

"She-she she said Cleopatra!" Cordelia managed between breaths.

"That's the most absurd name I've ever heard in my life!" said Harry, before howling with another round of laughter.

"BOY! Why aren't you making dinner? Get down here!" Vernon's voice yelled from downstairs.

"Oh, sorry, I gotta go make dinner, you can stay up here okay?" Harry said.

"It's all right. I'm used to making dinner. I can help you!" Cordelia said leaping off the bed, while wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

.: Bloody children :. Muttered Pumba, before letting out a stream of curses that she learned from her previous masters.

Dinner was done quickly since there were two sets of hand helping out. Harry looked frankly surprised that he had a place at the meal, but he didn't complain and ate more than he ever had in his whole life. As they ate, Vernon set up the ground rules for Cordelia.

"No freakishness, no spells, no getting out of the house, no television, no talking to other children, and no saying the M word. Do your chores. And when you're done, don't do ANYTHING!"

After dinner, Harry and Cordelia were forced to go upstairs while the Dursley's watched TV. Harry knew that his good luck was only conditional.

"You can have the bed, and I'll sleep on the floor," Harry persisted.

"No way! I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed!" Cordelia protested angrily.

"But I insist! Come on! It's not that bad!" Harry retorted.

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not! Or is my bed not good enough for you?" Harry asked craftily.

"N-no! Fine! I'll take it!" Cordelia spluttered. That wasn't fair. Harry used his advantage as the host to get what he wanted. Humph.

"So what do you want to do? I'm not tired yet," Harry asked after sitting around for a few minutes.

"Let's practice magic!"

"What? No way! Uncle Vernon will find out!" Harry tried, trying to find an excuse to back out.

"Fine, we'll do it when they're asleep!"

"B-but Hagrid said we couldn't use magic out of school!"

" Harry, I'll bet there are tons of muggle-borns who don't know this rule, and they're probably practicing it right now! If anyone comes and tries to arrest us, we'll just say we didn't know! And plus, you're Harry Potter! You can do anything!"

"Except for in this household," Harry muttered darkly, while Cordelia giggled awkwardly.

" Come on Harry. Things will change when we get to Hogwarts. I promise. So what do you say? Magic at midnight?"

"Yeah, sure. I guess it wouldn't hurt to get a head start…"

"Great! How about we start looking at the books?"

"Er- I dunno. What if Uncle Vernon comes up?" Harry asked.

"Well, I'm sure he wouldn't be able to do much if he did. I mean I'm sure people are looking out for you now that you've gotten your letter. The Headmaster wouldn't let you come back here if he knew how much Vernon hated magic right?" Cordelia said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, all right, but if we get in trouble, you're handling it okay? I mean people are more likely to listen to you anyways because you're beautiful," murmured Harry. After he realized what he had said, he immediately turned bright red.

"Er- well thanks, but I'm definitely not the prettiest one out there. I bet Hogwarts will be swarming with gorgeous witches. They do have a whole bunch of charms for that don't they?" Cordelia said, waving off Harry's tomato red face.

Cordelia and Harry rummaged through their books and got out _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) _by Miranda Goshawk and _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration _by Emeric Switch. Georgina also got out her copy of _A Brief History of Prominent Pureblood Families_, by Bathilda Bagshot and _Simple Charms and Spells for the Beginner_, by Adalbert Waffling.

"We should look for a light spell first," Harry suggested, "We'll need it because we can't leave the light when we're supposed to be sleeping."

"Great idea, Harry!" Cordelia exclaimed, "but we should hide the books under a blanket just incase your Aunt and Uncle come in."

"Yeah, your right as always," said Harry, trying not to blush at the reminder of the previous conversation, "Where's Pumba anyways? I haven't seen her since we named her!"

"Yeah, remind me why you chose to name my snake after a singing warthog?" Cordelia asked rhetorically, "She's probably out hunting somewhere. I didn't exactly leave her any food."

By ten o'clock, the two children had learned the incantation for a light spell and a time spell. That was when Vernon came barging in.

"Alright, you buggers! Go and brush your teeth and go to sleep, you hear!" he said gruffly.

"Alright, Dursley, will you show me where the bathroom is?" Cordelia asked through gritted teeth, her relatives were never this rude when she went to their houses!

"Right over here," he replied, pointing at a wooden door to the left.

Cordelia walked in, looking for a toothbrush and trying to find out why Harry had called her beautiful. She didn't really get what Harry could see in her, for she didn't really like any part of her appearance enough to call herself beautiful.

Cordelia gasped loudly at what she saw. In the mirror, she saw her face clearly. Gone were the drab brown eyes and dull lifeless hair. Instead she had deep, sapphire blue eyes and flowing golden hair. She was still pale, but it was a nice pearly sheen. But what the heck was with the dark blue eyes? They would seem to fit better with black or dark brown hair, but against her blonde hair, it seemed odd, but in a good way kind of odd. Like an exotic odd, after all, not many blondes had dark eyes.

_Let's not get narcissist, now, Cordelia,_ she mused as she pried her eyes away from the reflection. Looking at her eyes again, it was hard to believe they belonged there. It made her face look darker, more mysterious. They seemed to demand respect and command. It was very intriguing. She ran a hand through her soft curls. They were real. So she guessed it wasn't a dream or illusion after all.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, she quickly brushed her teeth and rushed back to Harry's bedroom. He already set up a pillow and blanket near the door, so she had to step around him.

"Harry?"

"Hmmm?"

"Thanks for being my first real friend," Cordelia said genuinely as she slipped into the bed.

"Thanks for being mine too, Cordelia. Your name is much too long though, can I call you something else?" Harry asked.

"Well, I suppose you can call me 'Lia. My family used to call me that, speaking of which, can I use your owl to send them a letter later?" said Cordelia, missing her family more by the minute.

"Wait, you never did tell me what happened and why you aren't able to go back. Did they get into an accident or something?" Harry asked, sitting up so he could listen.

Cordelia sighed and recounted her tale of being forcibly removed from her family.

"Woah, I'm sorry," Harry said, sympathetically, "at least you can visit them from the hols though right?"

"Well hopefully!" said Cordelia sighing.

"But we should pretend to sleep now, before Uncle Vernon comes in. you can sleep if you're tired, and I can wake you up later."

"All right. You're the best Harry," Cordelia said smiling softly.

They sat in silence for two hours, until Cordelia grabbed her wand from the night stand and whispered, "_Tempus"_

A sliver string twirled in the air, and formed the words: July 30th 1991 12:10 A.M.

"Okay, Harry, I think they're asleep now."

"Maybe we should look for a silencing spell just in case,"

"Great idea! Let's start looking! _Lumos_!"

"_Lumos_!"

Half and hour later, "Wait! Harry! Can I see your glasses? I want to try out this spell! _Reparo_!"

Cordelia and Harry looked at the glasses expectantly, only to be disappointed. Absolutely nothing happened.

"Er- I suppose I did something wrong?" Cordelia asked nervously.

"Well, it's okay. We should read the background material for the spell maybe," said Harry.

After reading the short section through the book, Cordelia exclaimed, "Oh yeah! I wasn't imagining what I wanted to be fixed, but what do they mean by 'any wand movement may be used'?"

"I dunno, but I guess you could try it again, right?" Harry asked.

"Oh, yeah sure. _Reparo!_" she imagined the glasses shinier and without any scratches on the lens.

"Good job, Cordelia! We're really getting the hang of this huh? Oh, I found the silencing charm! It says to wave your wand wherever you want the charm to go…does that mean I can silence people with this? Whatever, I won't try this on you though. _Silencio!_"

"I think we've done well for the first day. Let's get some sleep, Harry." Cordelia yawned.

"Okay. Night, Cordelia," Harry said, drifting off to sleep, but not before he put the books underneath his bed.

The weeks passed very quickly for Cordelia and Harry. They not only practiced spells, but they also looked at herbology, transfiguration, the history of magic, and the other subjects. The only book Harry wouldn't touch was the potions book, saying it would be boring.

Cordelia drafted a letter to her parents saying she was safe and all right, and they could use the owl to write her back. They wrote back shortly later saying that they missed her very much and to come over during the holidays.

Cordelia also forgot about her history of Purebloods book, but found it later, ushering Harry to look at it during one of their magic sessions.

"_Lumos_," Harry said quietly.

"_Silencio_," Cordelia recited perfectly.

"We never got to look at this book, Harry! Let's look up your family first!" Cordelia exclaimed, not caring about the loudness of her voice. They found the entry quickly, and read it in awe.

_Potter_

_Orgin: English_

_Alignment: Light_

_Famous Family Members: Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived, Ignotus Prevell, Owner of the first Invisibility Cloak._

_The Potter family is an old wizarding family that has lived in England for many years. They are a Light family, and support Muggle-Borns in the population, which is why some other families call them "Blood traitors." Despite this, the Potter name still carries much importance in the Wizarding World, because of their ancestry. The Potter Line is said to be the last living descendants of Godric Gryffindor, the renowned Hogwarts founder. Most Potters find themselves sorted in Gryffindor, as a result. An heirloom that is passed down to the Potter's is the first Invisibility Cloak, owned by Ignotus Prevell. It is also said to be one of the Deathly Hallows. The Potter Manor once was located where Godric's Hollow is, but Thiedran Potter destroyed it in 1972 to make an all Wizarding community. The Potters still live in Godric's Hollow, as they have for centuries. The Potters are famous for being highly respected jobs, mostly Aurors or Healers. They have one seat in the Wizengamot. They are related to the Black family and the Weasley family distantly. The Potters are a quite wealthy family, with a large vault in Gringotts._

"Wow Harry! That's so cool! An invisibility cloak!" Cordelia exclaimed excitedly.

"I know! And most of my family has been sorted in Gryffindor, so I don't need to worry!" Harry replied beaming.

"Lucky! I hope my family is just as cool!" Cordelia squealed, flipping through the pages.

_Vixen_

_Orgin: English_

_Alignment: Dark_

_Famous Family Members: Most Vixens have left their own mark on history._

_The Vixens are the most prominent family in Britain, and possibly the world. Vixens are matriarchic, and usually produce one female heir, as with most other Pureblood families. They are extremely rich, and it is rumored that all the money in the world would equal to fifty-percent of the entire Vixen fortune. Vixens are strictly Pureblood, and if they have an heir with a muggle, they will be disowned immediately. Many Light families consider the Vixens their enemy, as the Dark families call the Vixens their allies. Vixens hold a high position of power in the government, and they usually form the elite social circle. Their blonde hair and brown eyes being unusually beautiful usually classify Vixens. The rumors that Vixens were related to veelas are false. However, Vixens are said to be the heirs of Salazar Slytherin, but this cannot be confirmed. They do in fact posses the ability to talk to snakes, a common trait of Slytherin himself. Most Vixens are Slytherins, but some odd ones are also Ravenclaws. Never in history was there a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff Vixen. Vixens are mostly involved with Ministry affairs, indirectly influencing, but they do have two seats in the Wizengamot, as they usually do not work. Some Vixens were Dark Ladies, such as Superiora Vixen, who had the deadly wand of redwood and Nundu bone. She lived in Japan during her reign and is responsible for the effects of the muggle-known atomic bomb. The Vixen family lives in the Vixen Manor, which is unplottable and untraceable. _

"Wow, you're family is really…different from mine," Harry said in awe.

"Yeah, you're right… and it said we were mostly Slytherins. That's really scary. I don't want to be a dark witch!" Cordelia sobbed.

"Don't worry, even if you're in Slytherin, I'll always be your friend."

"Really?" Cordelia said, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Yeah, really, but hurry up and go to sleep or else we'll miss the train tomorrow and be stuck here for the whole school year," Harry joked.

Oh yeah, the train ride's tomorrow, Cordelia thought nervously. She had a fitful sleep that night.

In the morning, Petunia woke them up to get changed. Without any breakfast, 4 Privet Drive's inhabitants went off to the car and to the King's Cross train station.

"Hey Harry, why does this say platform nine and three-quarters?"

"WHAT?" Yelled Vernon almost slamming the breaks.

"Uhh, never mind, keep driving," Cordelia ordered, scared for her life.

Ten minutes later, Harry and Cordelia were dropped off, with the Dursleys sniggering at them and driving off.

"Great, just great," murmured Harry.

**Author's note: ****Hi everyone! Well that was chapter six, I hope you enjoyed it! I think I'll give this chapter some time to sink in, and so you guys can answer my questions about what you want to see (look below).**

**Also, this story is not going to have any pairings because Cordelia and everyone else are only eleven! Maybe during third year, I'll be more open to a relationship going on.**

**Lastly, I wanted to ask your opinion on who Cordelia's friends should be! Are you more open to: **

**1-Cordelia and Malfoy being best best friends, but having other friends on the side (Blaise, Pansy, Daphne, ect.)**

**2-Cordelia, Malfoy, and Blaise being best friends (like a trio) and Cordelia being good friends with Daphne, Pansy, and Tracey (they hang out from time to time)**

**3-Cordelia, Malfoy, Blaise, and Pansy being best friends (like in my first story) and Cordelia and the other girls just being friends.**

**Crabbe and Goyle will only hang out with Malfoy in public, solely for appearance's sake.**

**Give me your opinions!**


	8. The Hogwarts Express

**Author's Note: This chapter took a lot of thinking through… and I'm still not sure if I want to go through with it. It's going to be **_**significantly**_** different from the first one. Hopefully you'll like it though!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

Chapter Seven: All Aboard the Hogwarts Express

"Well, uh, I don't see a platform nine and three quarters…maybe we should ask someone," Harry suggested, fidgeting nervously. What if they didn't make it?

The two were starting to attract much unwanted attention because of Hedwig, Harry's owl.

"Are you mad? Muggles won't know what we're talking about, and they might question us, which would make us miss the train! Let's wait around and see if there's anyone with a trunk like ours," Cordelia replied sharply.

"Well-er, you're right. But we only have ten minutes left!" Harry said urgently.

"I know! That's why we're looking!" Cordelia said, getting annoyed. She had come to learn that Harry could be lacking in common sense sometimes.

Harry wondered how Cordelia could almost always keep a cool head. He, on the other hand, was stressing out. Would they get kicked out if they couldn't find the right station or missed the train? Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get out his wand and start tapping the ticket inspector's stand between platforms nine and ten.

They looked around for a few minutes before hearing someone say, "Packed with muggles of course—," and Harry whirled around. The speaker was a plump woman talking to four boys and a man, all of them with flaming red hair. Each of them were pushing a trunk like Harry's and one had an owl.

"Harry! Let's go after them!" Cordelia exclaimed, pushing her cart after the family excitedly. Silently she was cheering. There was no need for freaking out after all!

The red-haired man spotted them, but kept on walking.

"What's the platform number again?" the mother red head asked.

"Nine and three quarters!" piped a small girl, holding the mother's hand.

"Aw, mum! Why can't I go?"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten.

Harry and Cordelia watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished. Cordelia gasped in wonder as she nudged Harry excitedly.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell _I'm George?"

Cordelia giggled.

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it? Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

There was nothing else for it.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.

"Hello, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."

She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Uh, excuse me, would you please tell me how to get to the platform?" Cordelia asked, with the most innocent face she could muster. They hadn't noticed her standing next to Harry yet.

The family whirled around, shocked to see a Vixen. They were about to respond when the mother remembered Harry standing there, and responded in a light tone, "Don't worry, just walk straight into the barrier and don't stop. You can go before Ron, dearie,"

"Uhh, Cordelia, ladies first?" Harry offered, and she nodded at Harry's manners, before giving him a grin.

As she pushed her cart forwards though, it tipped over and the contents fell to the floor. How the heck did that happen? "Oh, I guess you can go first, Harry. I'll catch up to you later. Save me a seat, will you?"

Harry nodded before running into the platform, leaving the red head family gawking. The little girl looked at the barrier in complete awe.

"Mum! That was _Harry Potter_! I saw Harry Potter!" the little girl chatted excitedly.

"Ron, you go next, and Ginny and I will follow," the mother said nodding to the father.

Once the rest of the family was gone, the red headed man turned to Cordelia with a menacing look on his face. She gulped. What had she done?

"Hello, Miss Vixen, I am Arthur Weasley, patriarch of the Weasley family. I just want you to—STAY AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN! And Harry Potter, too. I don't know what he was thinking, making friends with the likes of _you_," he said the last word as if it was the filthiest thing on earth, "do I make myself clear?"

Cordleia stopped cleaning up her stuff and looked at Mr. Weasley, bewildered. She tried to pick up the rest of her pride before saying, "Well, _Mr. Weasley_, I don't see what could make you hate me already, but if your children have any resemblance to you, you wouldn't have to worry at all."

"Good," Mr. Weasley sneered, "but just to make sure, you have about four minutes before the barrier closes," he kicked over her trunk again, spilling everything once more. Cordelia almost growled in frustration. If this man made her miss the train, there would be hell to pay.

Unknowingly, another family came by to go through the platform and heard the last part of the conversation. There was the sound of a cart passing the barrier, and a silky voice saying behind Mr. Weasley, "Ah, Arthur, we're not terrorizing little children are we?"

Mr. Weasley spun around quickly, only to find the menacing glare of a blonde haired man with piercing gray eyes he looked kind of scary too. The blonde haired man waved his wand and the contents of Cordelia's trunk went back in. Was that even legal? Well, people vanishing in barriers weren't really legal either, so there must have been some spells around them. Or so she hoped.

"Malfoy," growled Mr. Weasley, "I was just putting this _scum_ in her place, there's nothing wrong with that." _Scum_? Since when had she become _scum_? She didn't recall doing anything to this man, except for responding to his comments.

"On the contrary, I would believe that you are the scum that needs to be put in its place," sneered the man called Malfoy. He turned to Cordelia, who was nervously glancing at the clock, "Come, Miss Vixen, we wouldn't want you to miss the train right?"

Cordelia nodded, and preceded to run through the barrier, which had very little students left on it. "I'm never going to get my luggage on that train and get on, on time." Cordelia muttered to herself.

Unfortunately, Mr. Malfoy heard, and barked at two burly, grown men to get her luggage on board. When Cordelia was on the train, she opened the window to call out to Mr. Malfoy, "Thank you, Mr. Malfoy!" to which he only inclined his head. She had to pick up on some Wizarding Traditions to make her seem like him.

The train rumbled and tooted, then began moving rapidly. Cordelia was looking for Harry's compartment, which she found a minute later.

"Hey Harry, sorry that took longer than expected. Some Weasley meanie who almost made me miss the train, if it weren't for Mr. Malfoy," she greeted, plopping down on the seat, oblivious to the fact that one of the Weasley family members who also sat there.

Harry fidgeted again, causing Cordelia to look over. "What's wrong—oh,"

"How dare you call my father a meanie! Who are you anyways? Are you another Malfoy worshipper? How do you know Harry?" the red head, whose name was Ron, asked angrily.

"Such questions!" she exclaimed mockingly, "where to start? Right, I called your father a meanie, because he is one. Who tries to harass eleven-year-olds anyways? I am Cordelia Vixen and I do not worship _anyone_, and Harry is my friend, much more than he is _yours_," Cordleia finished smugly.

Ron turned a very interesting shade of red, and turned to Harry for backup, who was fidgeting in his seat, trying not to pick a side. Cordelia shrugged at Harry's behavior. It didn't really surprise her, as she wouldn't pick a side if she were in his situation either. But how could he want to be friends with such a horrible person?

"Vixen!" Ron spat angrily, "you are the worst scum on earth! Disgusting inbreed, is it worth it to be Pureblood, but have a brain the size of a pea? Or insanity?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just as new to the Wizarding World as Harry is. For the sake of an enjoyable train ride, how about we not say anything mean to each other? Poor Harry here is having a migraine," Cordelia suggested smirking at Ron.

Ron, who had no idea what a migraine was, tried not to show it. "Fine. No more arguing. Do you really have… you know, The _scar_?" he asked Harry.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared. Cordelia rolled her eyes. Couldn't Harry see Ron just wanted a famous friend?

"So that's where You-Know-Who —?"

"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

"He was one. How much do you expect him to remember?" Cordelia said dryly. Ron shot her a glare and was about to retort, but he bit it back as Harry started speaking.

"Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again. Cordelia just grinned at Harry smugly.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him. Also, he was trying to ignore Cordelia's smug glances at him. Ron seemed nice enough to him.

"Er — Yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"Just because he doesn't have magic?" asked Cordelia blandly.

"Well. I dunno. Because he just doesn't have _magic_!" Ron retorted.

Cordelia just shrugged, and made a mental note of that. It could be potential blackmail, but she would have to research it more.

Harry stepped in. "So you must know loads of magic already."

The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."

"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. Cordelia just stared. _Five?_

"I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.

Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first.

You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

Cordelia gave Ron a look of pity. It was sad his parents couldn't provide for all of them.

Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat gray rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up.

Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff — I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink.

He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window. Cordelia and Harry just stared at each other. They both had fortunes in Gringotts, and were pretty well off.

Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"… and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —"

Ron gasped.

"What?" said Harry.

"_You said You-Know-Who's name!_" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed. "I'd have thought you, of all people —"

"It's not like he's going to jump out and kill us all! Relax! He's gone!" Cordelia said, annoyed.

I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

Cordelia glared. "You better not be! We're been studying for weeks!"

You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

Cordelia worried about Pumba. The small snake was currently asleep on her forearm, but even after having her for a week, Cordelia still had no idea when Pumba had to eat. Maybe Ron's rat could be a nice snack? She didn't really want to take Pumba out with Ron around, though,he might tell the teachers, then she would be in trouble.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor. Cordelia followed him excitedly, wanting food.

Harry had never had any money for candy with the Dursleys, and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry — but the woman didn't have Mars Bars (much to Cordelia's horror, they didn't have Lemon heads, Apple Heads, or Cherry Heads either). What she did have were Bettie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs. Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts. Cordelia followed him with the same amount of candy, but she asked for a bag, just incase she didn't finish it all. She looked amusedly at all the candy. It looked so good!

Ron stared as Harry brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

Cordelia laughed. "Understatement," she coughed.

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef…"

Cordelia's eyes widened. _Four? _She laughed to herself. Ron seemed to miss that her laugh was directed at him.

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"

"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry, who had never had anything to share before or, indeed, anyone to share it with. It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties, cakes, and candies (the sandwiches lay forgotten), with Cordelia and Harry wondering what half the candies were.

What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs.

"They're not _really _frogs, are they?" Cordelia asked, squirming. Frogs were gross.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know — Chocolate Frogs have cards, inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy." Ron said smugly, looking at Cordelia haughtily.

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and mustache. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"So _this _is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —"

"Weasley! We told you, we haven't been in the Wizarding World before! Stop rubbing it in!" Cordelia said angrily.

Harry turned over his card and read:

_ALBUS DUMBLEDORE_

_CURRENTLY HEADMASTER OF HOGWARTS_

_Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling._

"Sounds cool," said Cordelia, re-reading it over Harry's shoulder.

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!" Cordelia exclaimed.

He's gone!"

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.

"He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. "Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "_Weird!"_

Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. Cordelia seemed more interested than the cards than he was, so he just gave them to her.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy looking tearful came in.

Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

"Er- no. If we did, I'm sure you would know," Cordelia said, wrinkling her nose.

He wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Harry.

"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"

He left.

"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

For once, Cordelia voiced her agreement over Ron's words, "How could someone hold that thing? I mean, it's all slimy and nasty!" She still didn't like Ron though.

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…"

He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"

"Is that yours?" Cordelia asked, a little disgruntled that Ron's wand could be older than _hers._

Ron blushed. "Well, no, it's actually one of my brother's."

Cordelia looked confused, "But I thought the wand chose the wizard?"

"Kind of. I think

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"Erm, no. The chubby boy came in here a few minutes ago. It could have gotten stepped on…" Cordelia said, trailing off, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in Ron's hand. Cordelia scowled.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then," she said bossily.

She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er — all right."

He cleared his throat.

"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed gray and fast asleep. Cordleia chortled. Pathetic.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it?

I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.

"Excuse me? You've learned all your books by heart? Have you no life?" asked Cordelia incredulously. Even if she had all the time in the world, she definitely wouldn't try to memorize her books.

"Well, yes. Haven't you?" Hemione asked.

"Sorry if we're not bookworms like you," Cordelia muttered.

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione.

"No, he's Albus Dumbledore," Cordelia said sarcastically, "Seriously, Harry, it seems like people think you have amnesia or something."

Hermione looked offended at first, but she quickly regained her composure and said, "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books, for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History _and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts _and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_."

Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed. This little girl talked insanely fast.

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best;

I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. Cordleia internally agreed.

"Hey, listen. I'm going to look for my trunk and stuff. I'll see you when we get there," Cordelia said, trying to make an excuse to leave. She didn't feel that comfortable with that Ron boy, and it was about time she checked on Pumba.

She found an empty compartment, much to her surprise. Maybe Ron was lying about there not being anymore empty compartments just so he could sit with Harry. It was highly likely.

.: Pumba :. She hissed softly.

.: What is it missstress :. Pumba hissed back, slightly disgruntled that she was being woken up.

.: Do you need any food? :. Cordelia asked quietly.

.: No! I just fed before we left! :. Pumba exclaimed.

.: Yeah, so do you need any more food? :. Cordelia asked again.

.: We ssnakes only eat once a month! :. Pumba hissed.

Pumba wasn't the happiest snake around, that was for sure. .: Sso why did you go out sso often? :.

.:Because you humansss are so young and annoying! Speaker or not, I ssshould bite you! :. Pumba spat angrily.

.: Jee, sssorry. I can't help that I'm only eleven :. Cordelia said irritably.

.: Yesss, that's why I haven't bitten you yet…you smell of greatnesss. So great, I suppose I can live around you for a little longer… this would provide great blackmail later… :.

.: Are all snakes sso irritable? Or is it only you? :.

.: Not all ssnakes are given ridiculous names, Mistress :.

.: Touché. I'm starting to think you don't deserve thisss name either. :. Cordelia said, amused.

.: Change it then! :.

.: I can't. I promised Harry, remember? :. Cordelia said, sighing.

.: Ah, yesss, the other speaker. It is very fortunate that I have come across two young sspeakers in my lifetime :. Pumba said, flicking her tongue.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened to show the blonde boy she'd seen in Diagon Alley, but he was with a black haired girl with jade green eyes, a tanned Italian boy with slightly messed up dark brown hair, and two troll-like boys.

"What do you want?" Cordelia snapped, trying to hide Pumba before they saw her. It was she who was against the blonde boy bringing in a broomstick anyways.

"Well, well, well. Aren't you the girl who was with Potter in Diagon Alley?" the blonde asked haughtily.

"Why yes, I am. It's nice to know that your brain wasn't fried by meeting such a lovely person as I," Cordelia said, giving the group a small half smile.

The black haired Italian laughed, "Draco, why didn't you tell me about this one? I _like_ her!"

The blonde boy fidgeted a little, then he cleared his throat. "Excuse my friend. He seems to have forgotten his manners. I am Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. And you are?" he held his hand out for her to shake.

"Cordelia Vixen. Nice to meet you," Cordelia said, giving him a smile and taking his hand.

"I should-er introduce you to my friends." Malfoy said nervously, at her smile.

That was quite thoughtful of him, so she complied, although she couldn't help but feel he was kind of a spoiled brat. Of course her first impression of him wasn't the greatest.

"Vixen, this is Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini, and those two over there are Crabbe and Goyle," Malfoy said proudly.

Pansy stuck her hand out first, respectfully, "Nice to meet you, Cordelia."

Cordelia shook it, smiling, and "Likewise." She then offered her hand to Blaise, who took it, but instead of shaking it, kissed her knuckles, causing her to blush.

"A pleasure, Miss Vixen," he said politely, still not letting go of her hand.

"Blaise!" squealed Pansy, laughing, "You're scaring her!"

Blaise simply winked at her and dropped her hand slowly. Cordelia gave him a wink when the others weren't looking, and they both laughed silently.

"Sorry about Blaise, he's currently trying to get the status of 'Ladies man,'" Malfoy explained smirking, "Of course, sometimes it doesn't work and he gets slapped or punched by their boyfriends."

Cordelia laughed, "Don't worry. I won't slap you… wait, I take that back. I won't slap you if you don't try anything," she said suavely.

"Oh, Blaise! Seems like you can't hit on this one!" Pansy laughed, as Blaise pretended to sulk in the corner. They all laughed a little, still getting used to each other.

"So what brings you to this compartment?" Cordelia asked.

"Well actually, it was ours first, but Draco wanted to see if Harry Potter was really here," Pansy explained.

Cordelia smiled, "Did you find him?"

"Well, yeah. Except Draco was being himself so they kind of got into an argument," Blaise said, shaking his head at Draco.

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Draco exclaimed.

"Oh, nothing, Draco. Just commenting on your lack of social skills," Pansy said, laughing.

"You guys seem really close," Cordelia said enviously, "how long have you known each other?"

"Well, our parents knew each other, so we've all grown up together," Draco said, glancing at his friends.

"So… Cordelia, what house do you want to be in?" Pansy asked after a short amount of silence. Out of the three friends, Pansy seemed like the friendliest so far.

"Hm… Ravenclaw doesn't sound too bad, and neither does Gryffindor. Just anything but Slytherin," Cordelia replied thoughtfully.

"WHAT? Are you MAD? Anything BUT Slytherin?" Malfoy roared. Out of the three, she disliked Malfoy the most. He seemed very prejudiced and snobby. It didn't help that she had a poor first impression of him, either.

"Draco means to say, why don't you want to be in Slytherin?" Blaise inquired gently.

"Well, I heard everyone who went there turned dark and worked for You-Know-Who," Cordelia said quietly.

Another knock on the door interrupted them. "You better hurry up and put your robes on! I asked the conductor and he said we would be reaching Hogwarts shortly! Oh my! Aren't you the girl from the other compartment? I didn't catch your name!" said Hermione Granger, as she invited herself in the crowded compartment.

"I didn't give you my name," Cordelia said shortly, "but it's Cordelia Vixen."

"Oh! I've read all about your family! They're not very nice, are they? Well, I guess I'll try not to judge you by your family, but you're so incredibly rich! I would really like to see how your Manor looks, though, it must be amazing! I read in _Hogwarts, a History_, that all Vixens went to Hogwarts, isn't that cool? Maybe some professors taught your ancestors!" There was a bushy haired girl at the door, and she seemed to have said this in one breath. Cordelia decided that she still sounded like a know-it all, and that she didn't like her.

"Excuse me, but could you leave now? I don't think Vixen likes being ogled at," Malfoy said rudely, glaring at her.

The girl looked at Cordelia for support, but she was trying to get her robes out her trunk, which she had no idea was there.

The bushy-haired girl bit her lip and ran out of the compartment. The boys left shortly to change into their robes after.

The boys got back to the compartment and they sat in a comfortable silence until the train finally stopped. People rushed out of the train and a voice calling "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark on either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

Cordelia stared at the castle in wonder, ad she saw her friends stare at it too.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called pointing to the fleet of boats.

Cordelia, Pansy, Blaise, and Malfoy all piled themselves to a boat and began talking about what could live in the lake. When the ride was over, they all found themselves at the base of a large wooden door that led to the magnificent castle.

Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands.

Cordelia snickered. That boy was just too much.

Hagrid knocked on the door, and it swung open.

A tall black haired witch answered the door. She had a very stern face, and Cordelia deluded this wasn't a person to mess with. Hagrid motioned them to get in.

"Hello, I am Professor McGonagall," the woman said, once they were in the hallway, "Welcome to Hogwarts. The feast will begin shortly and you will be sorted in your House. Each house has its own noble history, and they are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. While you are at Hogwarts, you can earn House Points, while rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most Points will win the House Cup, which is a great honor. The Sorting Ceremony will begin shortly. I will return when we are ready for you."

The hallway erupted with nervous whispers, and the four could hear snippets of each conversation.

"How do they sort the Houses?" she heard Harry ask Ron.

"I heard it was something painful like wrestling a troll. That's what my brother told me," Ron replied.

"Only you would be stupid enough to believe that, Weasley," Cordelia coldly interrupted, causing his ears to turn pink. Some of the other students laughed, causing him to turn redder. Their truce just ended.

"Well- aaahhh!" Ron screamed, pointing at a transparent body that was floating toards the ceiling.

"Oh, wow, ghosts, don't tell me you haven't seen one before, Weasely" Malfoy said, laughing snidely. Cordelia had to admit, Malfoy was pretty good at making up insults.

Cordelia was just about to say something to Harry, but Professor McGonagall returned. "Move along now, the Sorting Ceremony's about to begin," she said in a sharp voice. The first years had moved to the Great Hall. It had begun.

**Author's Note: ****Wow, that was longer than I expected… seventeen pages on Microsoft Word! Please review! **

**The Sorting is next! I bet you know where everyone will go though!**


	9. The Sorting

**Author's Note: ****Thanks for the reviews! I'm expecting this to be a pretty short chapter, compared to the ridiculously long one before. All right, it wasn't ridiculously long, but it was pretty darn close. Reviews are more than welcome (it's what keeps me updating relatively quickly!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter**

Chapter Eight: The Sorting

Cordelia's first impression of the Great Hall was amazement. This was certainly not how she imagined her new school to be. Instead of a gray, dreary cafeteria, thousands and thousands of glittering candles lighted it, and four long tables stretched across the floor. The teachers sat at a horizontal table overlooking the students. The first years were sent to a halt near the older students, who were sitting at the tables. She looked up and saw the black ceiling dotted with glowing stars.

"It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read about it in _Hogwarts, A History_," the bushy haired girl said annoyingly, effectively ruining the moment.

_Please keep her away from my house, please keep her away from my house,_ thought Georgina darkly. She also noticed Pansy glaring daggers at the girl too.

Professor McGonagall placed a four-legged stool with a tattered hat in front of the first years. Cordelia heard Malfoy say, "I am NOT putting that RAG on my head!" to which she mentally rolled her eyes. Cordelia silently pushed her way towards Harry, who looked like he was going to pee in his pants.

"Hey, Harry. Are you okay? You look like you're going to be sick!" Cordelia said, worriedly.

"Er- yeah. I'm fine. What if they make us pull a rabbit from it?" Harry asked, his face looking greener and greener by the second. Ron gave Harry an odd look at his question.

"I'm sure they wouldn't do that. Half the people here haven't seen any magic before either," Cordelia said reassuringly, "if it helps, you can hold Pumba?"

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, "I'll try not to strangle her too much."

They put their hands together to avoid people staring at the smuggled snake, and Pumba slithered from Cordelia's forearm to Harry's.

"She's so slimy! How can you just leave her in your sleeve?" Harry whispered, wincing as the snake heard and tightened her grip on his arm.

Cordelia just shrugged. The sorting was about to start soon, so she motioned for both of them to be silent.

For a few seconds, the Hall was relatively silent. Then, the hat opened its brim and started singing:

_Oh you may not think me pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be. _

_You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
if you've a ready mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folks use any means  
To achieve their ends. _

_So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap! _

The Great Hall burst into applause. Cordelia took a sideways glance at her friends. Blaise looked slightly relieved that it was only putting on a hat and getting sorted. Pansy was biting her nails nervously, and Malfoy, well, Malfoy looked like he didn't really care. Harry was looking noticeably less green, but she put her hand on his shoulder for reassurance.

"When I call your name, please put on the hat and be sorted," Professor McGonagall said calmly.

"Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moments pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Boot, Terry!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brocklehurst, Mandy!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Brown, Lavender!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Bulstrode, Millicent,"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Cordelia heard Pansy mutter about her being a fat pig next to her and Blaise paled noticeably. She did look like Crabbe and Goyle a bit though.

"Finch- Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Finnegan, Seamus"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head._ Oh, no, it's the know-it-all. Please get sent back on the train please get sent back on the train!_ Thought Cordelia frantically. Unfortunately, she didn't.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

A pretty looking blonde witch stepped up to the stool. She smiled at Blaise, Pansy, and Draco before she put on the hat.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Longbottom, Neville!"

The boy who lost his toad looked even worse for wear than Harry he fell over on his way to the stool.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville ran off the stool in relief, but apparently forgot he had the hat on his head. note not to forget that.

"Malfoy, Draco,"

The hat barely touched his head before screaming, "SLYTHERIN!" Well, at least it didn't touch his head that much.

Pansy and Blaise smiled at him before turning back to the sorting.

"Nott, Theodore!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Parkinson, Pansy!"

Pansy walked to the stool with an air of confidence. "SLYTHERIN!" the hat shouted. Georgina's heart sunk. Were all of her friends going to be Slytherins?

She didn't pay any more attention to the sorting until, "Potter, Harry!" was announced. Whispers spread across the Great Hall like wild fire.

She gave Harry the most encouraging smile she could muster, as Harry meekly stepped up to the stool, embarrassed by the whispers.

The hat paused for a while before saying, "GRYFFINDOR!" in an irate voice. It obviously didn't want to put Harry there.

He took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet. Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, and Harry winced noticeably.

"Thomas, Dean!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Turpin, Lisa"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Vixen, Cordelia!"

The Great Hall fell silent as Cordelia walked up to the hat with a small smile on her face. She didn't want to look like Longbottom did. She put it on, and immediately, there was a small voice in her head, much to Cordelia's surprise.

"_This will be an easy choice. You have charisma, ambition, and cleverness. Clearly you are destined for- _SLY_-,"_

"_No wait! I don't want to be in Slytherin!"_

_"What? A Vixen not in Slytherin? My, you are an odd one, but why not Slytherin?"_

"_There are Dark Wizards in Slytherin!"_

"_ Trust me, young Vixen; you will fit in perfectly there. Erase your doubts, and just be yourself there. _SLYTHERIN_!"_

Cordelia scowled at the hat before dumping it on the stool. It just called her a dark wizard! How insulting. On the bright side, some of her friends were there, but not Harry. She headed off to the Slytherin table, but first she looked at the teacher's reactions.

Dumbledore, with his gray hair, seemed to be frowning slightly, but it was only noticeable if someone was actually looking for an emotion, McGonagall and most of the other teachers didn't look suprised at all. Hagrid wouldn't meet her eyes, which made Cordelia feel slightly hurt, but Quirrel and the man sitting next to him looked at her with pride.

When Cordelia reached the Slytherin table, she sat next to Pansy and across from Malfoy. She vaguely noted that Blaise sat on the other side of her after he was sorted. She was kind of disappointed she got into Slytherin after telling her friends that she didn't want to be there. After the sorting, Professor McGonagall took the hat away and went up to the teacher's table.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there, "Welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"

He sat back down while everyone clapped and cheered.

Cordelia was shocked, "That was _Albus Dumbledore_? The Albus Dumbledore? The defeater of Grindelwald? _How?_ " She exclaimed, causing a round of laughter to erupt form the Slytherin table.

"You'll see that he's a little more barmy than brilliant," one of the older boys said laughing, "How he managed to keep his position is entirely beyond me."

"Oh," Cordelia said, feeling a bit disappointed, what would she tall her parents? That they had a more mad than brilliant headmaster?

She stared in awe as the platters in front of her began filling up with piles of food, but tried not to show it, as most of the other students (including the first years) didn't look surprised at all. Silently, the four friends began loading up with food, and talking about trivial things. They were interrupted when Millicent Bulstrode joined in their conversation.

"Is it true, Vixen, that you were sent to live with muggles? Do you think they rubbed off on you?" the girl said evilly, obviously jealous that the rich Vixen heir wasn't talking to her.

"No! Of course not! I was just…in an elite training school in the Americas! Their accent hasn't rubbed off on me though, thank God," Cordelia said feigning anger at Bulstrode's words. She didn't really think her fellow classmates would like her as much if they found out she lived, and actually liked muggles.

"Really? That's why our invitation to the Christmas Ball always gets returned," Draco said scratching his chin thoughtfully. Hopefully, he wouldn't ask why she was with Harry and Hagrid while buying her school supplies.

Unfortunately, that was what he was going to say, but Cordelia, sensing this, quickly asked about other parties she'd missed out on while in America.

Soon, they were chatting happily about anything and everything, and she found out some of the parties she was obligated to attend to represent her family.

Dessert came and went, and Cordelia talked to some of her housemates. Marcus Flint, the boy who told her about Dumbledore, looked a little trollish, but he turned out to be the Quidditch captain and led the team to victory numerous times. He also introduced her to all of the professors there, and she learned that the one next to Quirrel was Professor Snape, their Head of House.

When the desserts also disappeared, Dumbledore got up again, this time to warn them about places. "The forest on the grounds is forbidden to students. Mr. Filch, the caretaker, asks me to remind you there is no magic to be used in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held during the second week of the term. And finally, I must tell you that this year the third floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

"He's joking, right?" Cordelia asked Flint, thinking the headmaster's insanity was taking over.

"I don't know, but you better not go there. The teachers will be prowling all over there." Flint answered, "I'll bet the little Gryffies will be there, those little brats who can't keep their nose out of trouble."

She made a mental note to tell Harry not to dive head first into trouble.

"And now, before we go to bed, let's all sing the school song!" Dumbledore announced happily.

Most of the Slytherins and some Ravenclaws grimaced in distaste. Surely the song couldn't be that bad, Cordelia thought.

Oh, but it was. Once Cordelia took a look at the lyrics, she almost fell on the floor laughing. A drunk and drugged Dumbledore must have wrote it!

The school (minus all of the Slytherins and a few wise Ravenclaws) sang:

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_

_Teach us something please,_

_Whether we be old and bald_

_Or young with scabby knees,_

_Our heads could do with filling_

_With some interesting stuff,_

_For now they're bare and full of air,_

_Dead flies and bits of fluff,_

_So teach us things worth knowing,_

_Bring back what we've forgot,_

_Just do your best, we'll do the rest,_

_And learn until our brains all rot."_

Cordelia almost threw up. It sounded terrible! They all had different tempos, and she could see Professor Snape tugging on his hair in agony. She was pleased to see Harry scratching his head in confusion before trying to mouth the words.

"Ah, music," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes, "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

Suddenly, Cordelia was glad she was in Slytherin. At least that house had some sense of pride!

**Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you for reading! Reviews = love.**

**Sorry for the people who wanted Harry and Cordelia in Gryffindor or Slytherin. For the rest of the story's sake, they have to be in different houses. But you'll still get a lot of interaction between them!**

**It's almost time for me to actually write something, other than just editing! Two more chapters of correspondence to the other story, then I'll be very happy to new suggestions! Year one is actually kind of boring, to tell you the truth. I can't wait for the second and fourth year (I'm afraid year three won't be as interesting either, I'm sorry). But stay with me here!**

**Also, I've started working on the next chapter already! Expect it to come up in a few days.**

**P.S. I love you guys!**


	10. The Snake's Den

**Author's Note:**** I have to say, this is more of a transition chapter. I had to make up most of the stuff here, but nevertheless, I like it! And here, you'll see Dumbledore and Snape! I've tried to make Dumbledore a bit more in-character than in the other story, and more like the book. He won't be evil(-er) until later on!**

**Reviews are love, and I love you!**

**Acknowledgements to ****Maria Arulraj, Twilight-Luv, ultima-owner (thanks especially for being constant!), Godrico Gryffindor, and Sephirotx for reviewing the last chapter!**

Chapter Nine: The Snake's Den

A handful of older students, including Flint, led the first year Slytherins to the Common Room, which was in the dungeon. They stopped by a dead end and Flint said "Pureblood" loudly. Like Diagon Alley, the bricks moved, but it was a lot faster. Cordelia tried not to look shocked, so instead, she attempted to put an impassive face to the impressive magic that swarmed all over Hogwarts.

The Prefects led the students in, as they stared in awe at the Common Room. It was a dark forest green, with a stone fireplace and several high backed chairs and sofas around it. Overall, it was quite roomy, and there was a bulletin board with several flyers on it already. Two medium sized bookshelves were in the corner, and a few coffee tables next to them with comfy looking chairs. Hanging lamps let out a pretty light, just enough to be bright, but not too bright. Georgina assumed they were underneath the lake, since there were no windows in sight. There were different archways leading to the dormitories with Roman numerals on top of them.

"Thank you, Prefects for leading our new snakes to the Common Room," a silky voice said from the entrance. Everyone turned to look at him. It was Professor Snape, their Head of house. He wore pitch-black robes, like the rest of the students, but they billowed about him in a commanding way. He looked like someone who shouldn't be messed with.

"You are Slytherins, your house is a place of pride and power; unity and strength; and cunning and ambition. As you might have already noticed, we are the least liked House in Hogwarts, which means you all will eventually fall victim to suspicion and fear from your fellow classmates. Let me tell you now: outside of this Common Room, you will act as one body, one house. You must be united, or the other Houses will pick you off. Unity is strength, always remember that."

Cordelia twitched involuntarily. Would that mean Harry would hate her too? _No,_ she thought, _Harry and I will always be friends, I mean, we were friends before Hogwarts too!_

"Mr. Flint! What is rule number one?" Snape asked, snapping Cordelia out of her thoughts.

"Yes, sir. Rule number one: Slytherins are the house," Flint answered proudly.

"Right, this means you must always take pride and unity in your House. I don't care if you hate someone's guts. Hate them in the Common Room; stick up for them outside, got it? If someone needs assistance, you _will_ assist them. This also means you must conduct yourself with great maturity in public at all times. We are not sloppy Gryffindors, we have manners and morals, remember that," Professor Snape said, pacing in the Common Room.

Manners and morals? Cordelia could imagine herself having morals, but Wizarding manners were completely different from muggle ones, so she would just have to wait and learn on that one.

"Higgs! Rule number two!" barked Snape.

"Rule number two! Don't get caught." Replied Higgs.

"Good, you can do whatever you need to do here, but do not, under any circumstances, get caught. You can pass notes in class, make fun of your teachers, sneak out from curfew, but keep it sneaky and stay smart. If you are caught, don't argue. Try to lose the least amount of points possible, because many teachers are reluctant to give Slytherin points anyways. Get a detention instead.

"There are more rules that are posted in each dormitory, and I highly suggest you reading them. Since the dungeons are so spacious and there are not many Slytherins, each year has their own dormitory and small common room. Boys are not allowed in the girl's rooms, and vice versa. There are bathrooms in every dorm, but you must negotiate shower schedules with your fellow dorm mates. Welcome to the Snake's Den," finished Professor Snape, while the Slytherins clapped quietly.

Cordelia couldn't believe it. Slytherin was actually an agreeable house. It didn't seem like they were trying to make dark wizards at a young age, or trying to corrupt every little first year into being a killer. Maybe the rumors weren't true then? But Voldemort _had_ been in this house…

"Come on," Pansy urged, "let's go see our room assignments!"

"Wait," Professor Snape interrupted, "I believe the Headmaster would like a quick word with Miss Vixen first."

"It's alright, Pansy, I'll be back soon!" waved Cordelia, following Professor Snape out the Common Room.

"The entrance to the Headmaster's office is on the seventh floor, come, I will show you the way there." Snape said awkwardly. The journey was mostly in silence, since Cordelia stared in awe at Hogwarts, noting the interesting looking places. She didn't think Professor Snape would care if she stared a little, and he didn't seem like the type of person to gossip about her.

Finally, they reached the Gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's Office. Professor Snape said the password, which was "Chocolate Frogs," and pulled her aside once the Gargoyle leaped aside.

Slightly unnerved by this, Cordelia bit her lip and walked up the stairs, knocking on the large wooden doors. She wouldn't try to look at the Headmaster in the eye, but it would be kind of odd if she looked like she was purposely avoiding eye contact.

"Come in," a calm voice answered. Cordelia pushed open the heavy door, to reveal a large, but slightly cluttered office. Portraits or certificates lined every spot available on the wall, and a red bird on a perch stood next to Dumbledore. It just stared at her calculatingly. She felt more nervous. Dumbledore himself was behind his desk in a large, blue chair. A smaller one stood in front of it.

Hesitatingly, Cordelia took a seat avoiding the Headmaster's eyes.

"Lemon Drop?" he offered.

Cordelia widened her eyes. How did he know of her favorite candies? She was about to decline, out of politeness, but she hadn't had a lemon drop in ages! They were tempting her.

Dumbledore looked at her oddly. She seemed to be fighting an inner battle with herself, maybe she had a bad experience with lemon drops? Still, if she didn't want any she could just decline, instead of staring at the bowl of lemon drops, like she was now.

Cordelia finally gave up and took a handful of the Lemon drops and shoved half of them in her mouth. The sweet and sour flavor immediately made her happy, and she forgot how much she missed them.

Dumbledore was shocked. This was the first time someone actually took his offered candy! He gave Cordelia a grandfatherly smile and began once he assessed how many she took. Half! He would have to order more in the morning then.

"Can I suggest you try cherry drops, grape drops, or apple drops? They're like the same things except for in a different flavor. They might help you balance out the overly sour flavor in the lemon drops. Honestly I can't eat only Lemon Heads, I have to eat a mix of them and savor all the flavors," Cordelia said beaming brightly.

"Hmm, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try them," Dumbledore said, smiling, then he got quickly to his point.

"Well, Miss Vixen, you caused me quite a shock. I thought you might be sorted in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor, because your father was a Gryffindor. How was the ride here for you?"

"Well, it was nice. I got your chocolate frog card, which was quite interesting indeed. It's an honor to meet you sir, after defeating the Dark lord and finding the twelve uses of dragon's blood. Hogwarts is lucky to have you, I believe, its not every school who has a dark wizard vanquisher as its Headmaster!" Cordelia praised sincerely, trying not to choke on the lemon drops.

Dumbledore's electric blue eyes twinkled. _Freaky,_ Cordelia thought. "Hmm, how was your sorting then? We wouldn't want you to grow up in the wrong house now do we? Maybe another go with the Sorting hat wouldn't hurt."

"I'm sure it wouldn't!" exclaimed Cordelia, "in fact, I begged the Sorting Hat not to put me in Slytherin, but it did anyways, maybe I'll get a different one this time. Maybe even Gryffindor, that's where Harry's at anyways."

"It's settled then, let's re-sort!" Dumbledore took the Sorting Hat down from its case and placed it on her head. Wandlessly and wordlessly, Dumbledore cast a confundus charm on the hat, making it believe it was sorting Harry Potter, who would no doubt land in Gryffindor.

"_Ah, it's you again. Not happy with your old house?" _

"_Actually I know where I want to go this time, put me in Gryffindor!"_

"_Very funny. It took me almost an hour to figure out I'd been manipulated."_

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Yeah, your little, 'Not Slytherin' chant won't work this time."_

"_I was chanting? I don't seem to recall…"_

"_How could you not? The feast was only two hours ago!"_

"_You're mad. I never chanted!"_

"_Calling me mad won't let you get out of it this time."_

"_Get me out of what? I have no clue what you're talking about!"_

"_Oh, you're a slippery one. Just because I let you go to Gryffindor last time-"_

"_HUH? But you put me in..."_

"SLYTHERIN!"

Dumbledore almost choked on the current lemon drop he was eating. The Sorting Hat believed Cordelia to be Harry, and yet it still put her in Slytherin? He would have to talk to Harry soon, just incase he was having some doubts. Maybe putting a Potter and a Vixen together wasn't such a good idea after all.

Cordelia saw that Dumbledore didn't look too pleased, so she decided to say something, "Don't worry sir, I won't go Dark or anything like that. I don't like Voldemort at all, and Harry's my best friend. We'll keep each other in check." Cordelia had no idea how she managed these words, because her mind was reeling from her conversation with the Sorting Hat.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again, "I think that is a very good idea, Miss Vixen. Remember, if you need me, I will be in my office. Good night."

Cordelia left without another word, and she found Professor Snape at the doorway. She smiled at him brightly, extremely pleased that she had the headmaster's approval and enough lemon drops to last the week.

"How was the meeting, Miss Vixen?" Professor Snape asked, hoping Dumbledore didn't transfer her out of his house.

"It was quite interesting, if I might say so myself. The Sorting Hat put me in Slytherin again, which I'm kind of glad for. I mean, I had my doubts before, but I guess Slytherin is an okay house," Cordelia replied, smiling at the black robed professor.

Snape almost choked on his spit. An _okay _house? He tried not to show how much shock he felt.

Cordelia didn't look at him, "I even told him I wanted to be in Gryffindor…"

This time, Snape couldn't control himself, "_Wanted to be in Gryffindor_?" he murmured disbelievingly.

Cordelia looked at him, "Oh yes. I really wanted to be in Gryffindor."

Snape looked at her, shocked. She was so different from her mother!

"I mean, look at their house colors! Wouldn't you dream of proudly donning those colors and roaring like a lion?" she said innocently

"Wha- no. How- why-wha-who? Bla-" Professor Snape tried to express, but words failed him at the moment.

Cordelia burst out laughing, "Ha! Gotcha! I didn't mean the last part at all!"

Snape looked offended at first, and then angry, then the last expression took her completely by surprise. He looked proud. Like mother like daughter. It was interesting how much they were alike. "Did you know I went to school with your mother?"

Cordelia looked genuinely interested, "Really? How was she? Did she get good grades? What was her favorite subject? How well did you know her?"

"Your mother and I were friends, but she was two years ahead of me. She was very good at potions. I believe she also owned a snake, and I'm assuming you have one too? [Cordelia nodded] I'll send in a cage tomorrow, and you can let the snake wander in the dungeons. There are many more around here," replied Snape, not willing to tell her everything at once. "Go to sleep, you have a long day tomorrow."

"Okay, goodnight, sir." Cordelia said politely, still thinking about the joke she played on Snape. She couldn't wait to tell Harry.

She walked up to the first year dorms, which had its own little fireplace, sofas, and tables to work on. Malfoy was writing a letter to his parents, and Crabbe and Goyle were looking around stupidly.

"Hey, Malfoy," she greeted, plopping down on the green armchair next to the fire, "where's everyone else?"

Malfoy looked up, "Call me Draco. I think Pansy's in the shower, Millicent and Daphne are in their room unpacking, and Blaise is in the shower also. I think Theo fell asleep already."

"Cool. Well, I better get going. I wanna see which bed Pansy saved me," Cordelia said, getting up.

"Wait! What did the headmaster want?"

She frowned slightly. "He wanted me to transfer to Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, so I tried on the hat again, but I still got Slytherin. I hope Granger didn't have lice or anything, or I'm sure I have it now." She joked good-naturedly.

He laughed a little. She supposed he had a nice laugh when he actually used it.

"Oh yeah, there's also a Gryffindor who manipulated the Sorting Hat. He or she was supposed to be in Slytherin. I guess when the Sorting Hat tried to sort me; it thought I was that person. Maybe we should keep a lookout for them?" Cordelia asked.

"Well, maybe. I suppose it wouldn't hurt," Draco replied, then murmered something under his breath. She couldn't catch the whole phrase, but it had something to do with a 'Mudblood.'

Cordelia grinned, trying not to show her hurt from him not telling her, "Well, I'll be heading off now if you don't mind?"

"Yeah, see you in the morning," he said, looking at her retreating form and wondering how the heck she could be in Slytherin. She was way too happy and carried her emotions on her sleeve.

There was a black door that read, "Girls' Dorms" in gold letters. She pushed the door open to reveal a rather large sea green room with five queen-sized beds with curtains on it, arranged in a circle. Pansy had already claimed the bed closest to the door, but Cordelia didn't mind. The other three girls were sitting on the other beds, so the last option was the bed directly across the room, next to a window…wait, window?

"It's charmed to look like the outside world, even though we're under the lake," a pretty blonde haired witch said, smiling at her curiosity.

"I'm Daphne Greengrass, by the way. And you're Cordelia Vixen right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Cordelia said, smiling also. She noticed the other two girls stop talking and looked at her. "Hi, I'm Cordelia."

"Millicent Bulstrode" introduced the girl who almost found out her secret during the feast. Now that Cordelia thought about it, Millicent looked similar to Crabbe and Goyle.

"I'm Tracey Davis." A brunette girl with striking gray eyes said, "My brother's a fourth year in Ravenclaw."

Cordelia shook both of their hands happily, pleased that she was making fast friends with her dorm mates.

"I'm just going to get settled in now," Cordelia said, turning her attention to her trunk that was currently next to her bed.

She briefly wondered if she could put a cage for Pumba underneath it. Hopefully the other girls weren't afraid of snakes. She looked around the room again. There was a pretty mahogany dresser on her side of the room, where she could put her clothes in. There was also a vanity mirror between every two beds. Cordelia decided that she immensely liked the room.

Cordelia searched through her trunk after telling Pumba to go exploring. She found her pajamas and walked out of the door, off to find the bathrooms. She bumped into Pansy on the way, who directed her to the bathrooms.

Cordelia quickly showered; finding the bathroom only had one shower, bath, toilet, and two sinks. It was actually quite small. She scurried back to her room, since no one was in the Dorm Common Room.

"Hey," Pansy greeted, "we made a shower schedule already. Millicent's going first at 5:45, then Daphne at 6, and Tracey's going in at 6:15, then you're going at 6:30. I can go in at seven, and that'll give us about an hour to get ready till we have to go down to breakfast, which is at eight, and classes start at nine."

"That sounds great. Do you know when classes usually end?" Cordelia asked, not bothering to question why she got twice the amount of shower time than the other girls.

"Well, I think this is the schedule my mom told me: breakfast at eight, then we have our first class at nine, then we have a fifteen minute passing period then our second class. Then we have lunch, then two more classes in the afternoon. Then, we do our homework and what not, and dinner is at 6:30. Our curfew is at nine. Don't worry, tomorrow, the prefects will give us a tour of the place and what not," Pansy said, trying to think about what her mother told her.

"Thanks Pansy," Cordelia replied, "Oh, yeah, I have a pet snake, and she's wandering around somewhere. I was thinking of putting a cage underneath the bed. Do you mind?"

"A snake?" Pansy asked, paling a little, "well, I wouldn't mind if it didn't bother me or anything. What kind is it?"

The other girls gasped and looked at Cordelia in awe.

"She," Cordelia automatically corrected, "She's a black mamba, but Pumba's not that big yet. She couldn't hurt anybody unless she bit them."

"Where is she?" asked Tracey nervously.

"Oh, I told her to explore somewhere. She should be back in the morning," Cordelia said absently. She couldn't keep tabs on Pumba all the time.

"You mean there's a black mamba running around here? How can you be so _calm_?" Millicent shrieked.

Cordelia shrugged. She knew despite Pumba's irritable nature, she wouldn't bite anyone unless they stepped on her. She shared her thoughts with the panicking girls (except Pansy) in front of her.

"Okay, I'm fine with that. Let's go to sleep now, I'm tired," whined Pansy.

"What? How?" Millicent spluttered, "How can you be _okay_ with that?"

"I trust Cordelia. You should too. Now let's _sleep_."

The other girls nodded mutely, trying to put their faith in Cordelia and her snake.

"All right, night, Pansy," Cordelia said before climbing into her bed, but before she went to sleep, Georgina got out a quill and parchment and wrote a certain list:

_Things to do Tomorrow_

_1. Make new friends!_

_2. Be better friends with Harry, Pansy, Blaise, and Draco._

_3. Talk to some of the older students._

_4. Make friends from different houses. _

_5. Learn something new! __ Excited!_

_6. Write to mom, dad, and Christy_

_7. Don't end up on the train ride home._

_8. Read the Slytherin rules_

When Cordelia was finished, she sighed. She sure set some pretty high standards for herself, but she wanted to make her parents proud!

**Author's Note: ****Well, that was chapter nine! Sorry it wasn't more interesting. Hopefully the next chapter will have more action (or something).**

**I'm sorry Cordelia and Harry couldn't be in the same house, but yes! They will still be friends (Snape and Lily anyone?). Also, note that Cordelia doesn't know that Draco hates Harry! However, this will still be a fic where Draco and Cordelia are best friends :) **

**With Ron and Hermione, Cordelia won't like them, but she'll try to keep herself in check so she won't upset Harry.**

**I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, but it's a lot longer, so no guarantees. Reviews are my brain food!**


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